Getty Image / Joseph Weiser
Ever since rule changes were announced that would shorten the amount of time of a college football game, fans have been in an uproar. And, many have complained this year that there seemed to be more commercials than usual, but that may not be true.
The biggest rule change is regarding how the game clock is operated after first downs.
Previously, the clock stopped on all first downs with a tackle made in the field of play after a first down until the chains were set. Then, the clock was wound.
But, this year, that’s changed. Now, the clock continues to wind down after first down with a tackle in the field of play, except in the last two minutes of each half.
The length of games was getting out of hand, with some games last year taking up to four hours to complete. But, many complained that these rules changes wouldn’t actually address the real culprit: commercial breaks. And, some fans have claimed that there are even more commercial breaks this year.
So, Stewart Mandel and The Athletic set out to find out what difference the rules were making and if there were indeed more commercials this year.
The answer to that question is no. According to officials from ESPN and the SEC league office, the amount of commercial breaks is standardized, and hasn’t changed. Typically, they come in one of two formats 3,4,3,4 or 4,4,4,4. Those numbers represent the number of commercial breaks in each quarter.
In fact, they say that there may be less commercials breaks than before, as a game they measured in 2017, South Carolina and Tennessee, had even more commercial time than games on the same network in the same time slot this year.
As someone who attends quite a few games in person, the countdown clock for commercials added to many stadiums in the last few years has changed some things. On one hand, it gives you a concrete point as to when you can expect football again. On the other hand, There’s nothing worse than being in the flow of a great game and seeing 3:20 popping up on the screen and having to listen to singalong songs from the 1970s because most of your fan base still things “Build Me Up, Buttercup” is a bop.