What is the point of American Football?

[soul_survivor]

Other than just selling advertising spots?

A Time study found that an average 3 hour NFL broadcast only has 11 minutes of game time...that's right, 11 minutes out of a possible 180 minutes. That is less than 10% of the broadcast.

So if American football isn't a sport, what is it? Why do people watch it and in particular, the SuperBowl, just so they can sit through hours of advertising and rubbish performances? Why not just go to a concert? Or watch ads online?

More importantly, why do American sport fans, actual sport fans, hold it to such a high level?

[FLEX U.K]

I have tried time and again to get into American Football as a mate at work is a fan and keeps asking me to watch it. I have tried several times but just cant stand the gaps in between plays and the overall stop-start nature of it.

[GGG Gloveking]

How do they only have 11 minutes of game time? It's a 60 minute game

[Eff Pandas]

Yea I don't get other sports (non-combat sports that is) in general, but the popularity of football is specifically surprising to me cuz there is so little actual activity. I guess cuz the activity it does have can be so intense is why I guess. But it does NOTHING for me.

[Eff Pandas]

How do they only have 11 minutes of game time? It's a 60 minute game

I believe cuz the clock is counting down much of the the time & the plays themselves rarely last 5 seconds it seems like. Then they go right back to the 40 something second play clock before the next play starts lol. Clock only stops after certain things happen.

So for every 5ish seconds of action there is 40ish seconds of waiting around to say hike.

[GGG Gloveking]

I believe cuz the clock is counting down much of the the time & the plays themselves rarely last 5 seconds it seems like. Then they go right back to the 40 something second play clock before the next play starts lol. Clock only stops after certain things happen.

So for every 5ish seconds of action there is 40ish seconds of waiting around to say hike.

Ok, I see what you're saying. I always considered the team's lining up, calling audibles, reading the defense or the offensive formation, making adjustments, part of the action. Of course , all sports have this element of inactivity and commercialization

[SnoopySmurf]

Other than just selling advertising spots?

A Time study found that an average 3 hour NFL broadcast only has 11 minutes of game time...that's right, 11 minutes out of a possible 180 minutes. That is less than 10% of the broadcast.

So if American football isn't a sport, what is it? Why do people watch it and in particular, the SuperBowl, just so they can sit through hours of advertising and rubbish performances? Why not just go to a concert? Or watch ads online?

More importantly, why do American sport fans, actual sport fans, hold it to such a high level?

There's a lot happening between plays. There's player changes between, the other team will see that and may have to get another player that will match with those players. Also, the formations will change before the ball is hiked, the defense will have to react to that. It's like a game of chess with the players before the action begins.

[GhostofDempsey]

Big league sports are big business. They've all been corporatized. Selling commercial time, merchandise, and labeling players as a brand. They've priced out the working class. Try taking your family to a football game in most stadiums. It can set you back an easy $500. Each year I lose more interest in sports as a whole.

[soul_survivor]

I have tried time and again to get into American Football as a mate at work is a fan and keeps asking me to watch it. I have tried several times but just cant stand the gaps in between plays and the overall stop-start nature of it.

This is exactly my story. I have a friend who plays for a team in London and he has been trying to get me into watching it for years. I watched my first game almost a year ago and almost died of boredom. I watched my first and only superbowl probably 6 or 7 years ago.

That wasnt a sport, it was a mini concert mixed with fireworks, cheerleaders and movie trailers. It was honestly the most bloated, ugly, commercialised mess I have ever seen.

How do they only have 11 minutes of game time? It's a 60 minute game

It counted the time in which the ball is in actual play.

Big league sports are big business. They've all been corporatized. Selling commercial time, merchandise, and labeling players as a brand. They've priced out the working class. Try taking your family to a football game in most stadiums. It can set you back an easy $500. Each year I lose more interest in sports as a whole.

I agree, all major sports have been commercialised to a certain extent but there is still actual "sport" involved in all of them. Football is the world's game, the most played and viewed sport on the planet but even that has a solid, no nonsense 90 minutes or more of game time.

The world cup, one of the largest sporting en****** around, second only to the champion's league in prize money, is nowhere near the grotesque advertising mess the superbowl is. You don't sit through half time shows, trailers, ads for rubbish and poorly sung/lip synched concerts. It still feelsl ike a sport.

[WarVeteranO01]

Look up football fan fights on youtube, if you dont like the sport of football than you will definitely hate the diehard fans. Watching these videos was kinda my last straw with football. Grown, fat, drunk men of all ages and races fighting like savages over a team that could care less about them.

But before that I too read football players only actually play like 11 mins a game. As a boxing coach that focuses a lot on cardio, this really had me look at the athletes in that sport differently.

Also the whole take a knee crap kinda got to me. Not that I disagree with them but because to me it seemed like a publicity stunt Kapernick pulled because his 15mins of fame was up. It then spiraled out of control creating deeper division in the USA and just because of some stupid sport and its athletes that play 11mins of action in 3hrs!

And lastly, my 49ers suck.