Super Bowl Duration: How long can the Super Bowl last? (2024)
The most awaited day for American football fans is about to arrive on Sunday, February 11 when Super Bowl LVIII will take place, in which the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers will play to win the long-awaited Vince Lombardi trophy, but just how long will they have to wait to see a winner?
The game is a rematch of the league's title game four years ago, when the Chiefs defeated the 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV, and the 49ers are looking for a rematch of that game. Andy Reid's side are one step away from becoming the seventh NFL franchise to win two Super Bowls in consecutive years, which would place them among the league's elite.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have already become a dynasty by reaching their fourth Super Bowl in five years, and are seeking their third title in that span. The Kansas City franchise is among the winningest in the entire league with 16 divisional, four AFC conference championships and three Vince Lombardi titles (1969, 2019 and 2022).
On the side of the San Francisco 49ers, they have conquered their division (NFC West) 22 times and on seven occasions they have lifted the champions' trophy in their NFC Conference which has given them the ticket to the championship game of the entire leagu. They can boast five Vince Lombardi in their trophy cabinet: Super Bowls XVI (1982), XIX (1985), XXIII (1989), XXIV (1990) and XXIX (1995).
How long is the Super Bowl game?
The length of the Super Bowl is the same as all other NFL games: four 15-minute timed quarters, but it is the context of the game that makes the whole process longer, stretching up to four hours at most.
The Miami Herald indicates that on average the Super Bowl lasts three hours and 12 minutes. That means the halftime show is expected to start between 19:50 ET and 20:20 ET at Super Bowl LVIII, assuming the Super Bowl's start time is 18:30 ET.
Although last year's edition started at 18:44 ET., so it could vary a bit. The start time for Super Bowl 2024 is approximately 18:30 ET, which will be 15:30 local time (PT) in Las Vegas and for viewers on the West Coast.
The length of the Super Bowl is the same as all other NFL games
NFL games
The two surviving teams from each conferences' divisional-round playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher-seeded team. The winners of those contests go on to face one another in the Super Bowl which is played at a predetermined site.
Around four hours are generally put aside for the Super Bowl game. That's because the longest-ever game was Super Bowl XLVII between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. MORE: How Much Are Super Bowl 58 Tickets? That Super Bowl lasted for four hours and 14 minutes!
How long do Super Bowl games usually last? The average Super Bowl broadcast over the past 20 years has run about three-and-a-half hours, including the halftime show.
The average Super Bowl lasts for over three hours. If this year's Super Bowl runs for that length of time, it will finish under floodlights as darkness takes over Las Vegas.
The Super Bowl halftime show typically lasts between 12-15 minutes, with recent performances showcasing the talent of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, and Rihanna.
It was the most-watched United States broadcast since the Apollo 11 moon landing, attributed to the Taylor Swift effect. The halftime show, headlined by Usher, peaked at 129.3 million viewers. The game's net playing time of 74 minutes and 57 seconds ranks as the longest in Super Bowl history.
Playoff competition - with the Super Bowl included - is a different proposition to the regular season games and features some rule changes. One of the key alterations made for the post-season period is the overtime rules, with games unable to end in a tie.
The Super Bowl typically goes between three and four hours, meaning you can expect the halftime show to be about an hour and a half or two hours into the action, putting it around 8-8:30 p.m. ET, give or take some time depending on how the game progresses.
By comparison, nearly 68,000 fans attended the 2023 game in Glendale, Arizona, and about 70,000 the year before, in Inglewood, California. Face-value tickets usually cost anywhere from $950 for a "nosebleed" seat to $9,500 to be just behind the teams, overlooking the 50-yard line.
There is a considerably longer break between halves of the Super Bowl than there are during regular-season games. Most regular-season games have a halftime break running under 15 minutes. The Super Bowl's halftime will run closer to 30 minutes. That doesn't mean all that time will be reserved for Usher.
While halftime in a regular NFL game lasts roughly 13 minutes, the Super Bowl gets a supersized halftime to allow for moving the sets (and performers) on and off the field. Still, you should expect Usher's performance to be approximately 13 minutes long.
That's right, for free. That's because the Super Bowl performers don't really get paid by the NFL to perform. None of the performers that performed before and during the big game — Usher, Reba McEntire, Post Malone and Andra Day — took home a salary for the day's work.
Super Bowl LI featured the largest comeback in Super Bowl history, with the Patriots overcoming a 28–3 deficit in the third quarter to emerge victorious. Due to the comeback, the game is nicknamed "28–3". The game was also the first Super Bowl to be decided in overtime.
The Kansas City Chiefs executed a perfect, Super Bowl-winning drive to beat the San Francisco 49ers with only seconds left on the clock – but due to the NFL's overtime rules, the clock actually didn't matter at all.
One reason the National Football League is adamant about keeping the Super Bowl on Sundays is due to TV ratings, according to past comments from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. During a 2018 interview on "The Kyle Brandt Football Experience," Goodell said it really comes down to TV ratings.
What is intriguing is that the actual game time is only for 1 hour as there are four quarters of 15 minutes each. In addition, sometimes the game may get prolonged in case overtime is required.
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