National Football League

NFL announces changes to speed up the pace of games

Published Mar. 22, 2017 3:09 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

At his news conference before the Super Bowl, commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL would look at possible changes to pace of play, namely the frequency of commercials during a game’s broadcast.

On Wednesday, Goodell announced those changes, hoping to speed up games and cut down on the number commercials. The biggest change of all is the removal of commercials after a touchdown, and after the ensuing kickoff.

“Together with our broadcast partners, we will be working to meaningfully reduce down time and the frequency of commercial breaks in our game. We will also be giving our broadcast partners increased flexibility to avoid untimely breaks in the action. For example, we know how annoying it is when we come back from a commercial break, kick off, and then cut to a commercial again. I hate that too. Our goal is to eliminate it.”

Additionally, the NFL will use a play clock following the extra point, and will consider doing the same after a touchdown.

“Regarding game timing, we're going to institute a play clock following the extra point when television does not take a break, and we're considering instituting a play clock after a touchdown. We're also going to standardize the starting of the clock after a runner goes out-of-bounds, and standardize halftime lengths in all games, so we return to the action as quickly as possible. Those are just a few of the elements we are working on to improve the pace of our game.”

"For example, next week clubs will vote on a change to centralize replay reviews. Instead of a fixed sideline monitor, we will bring a tablet to the Referee who can review the play in consultation with our officiating headquarters in New York, which has the final decision. This should improve consistency and accuracy of decisions and help speed up the process."

Further changes could also be coming, including shorter overtime period (10 minutes) and full-time officials, which Goodell confirmed the NFL will begin hiring to USA Today's Tom Pelissero.

Hopefully these adjustments improve the overall quality of games on television, as that's the ultimate goal for the NFL.