I agree with this profoundly. I love college football but it's mind-blowing how much better done soccer is than American sports, and especially college football.

I have matches on all morning even if it's Paderborn v. Union Berlin in a throw-away DFB Pokal match.

With college football, there was a game on ESPN at 11 that I had to turn off and switch to EPL due to the over abundance of commercials and Beth Mowins in the booth.

Since I started following soccer, my college football watching has dropped. Part of that is due to age and following my kid but I just enjoy soccer more.

I still love College Football but MLS and the men's national team are now firmly in 2nd place in my heart. I don't really miss other pro sports.

The brilliance of a running clock, relatively minimal added time, and no visible pauses for playmaking add to under two hours stem to stern including introductions. Less if you accept ties at end of match during the competitive season.

Compared to 3 hours 12 minutes average for American football and 3 hours 9 minutes for Major League Baseball.

The NFL in-season overtime for game resolution with a single additional period isn't terrible because of the single additional period not because of the rest.

Neither game is likely to experiment with rules that significantly shorten games unless competitors emerge. Instead...they'll just continue leaking interest like a balloon with a piece of tape that you push a needle through.

Multiple times yesterday I found myself and a friend (another EPL fan) commenting on how to improve college football. It's still my favorite sport, but I kept wondering how a 60 minute game could possibly last 4 hours. Can we put a ribbon board around the field? More ads on screen next to the score? Anything to avoid commercial timeouts

No.

You folks realize that to televise all the college games and provide income to the schools, ads are the answer. I would guess more eyes are on a college football game than a college soccer match. Do away with TV and a football game is not much longer than a soccer match.

rugger74 said:

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You folks realize that to televise all the college games and provide income to the schools, ads are the answer. I would guess more eyes are on a college football game than a college soccer match. Do away with TV and a football game is not much longer than a soccer match.

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In addition, the OL and DL probably need the breathers.

rugger74 said:

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Do away with TV and a football game is not much longer than a soccer match.

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HS football games (with shorter quarters and typically not being broadcast) are already longer than pro soccer games in run time. Sure commercial breaks add some time to the broadcast, but the biggest difference is still the amount of dead clock time in football.

I love both sports - played and coached them - but football does drag on. At least it's not baseball though!

That is because baseball is timeless.

Trying to watch Seattle/LA.

The turf is horrible to watch.

Watch the players then.

rugger74 said:

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You folks realize that to televise all the college games and provide income to the schools, ads are the answer. I would guess more eyes are on a college football game than a college soccer match. Do away with TV and a football game is not much longer than a soccer match.

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no one is talking about college soccer in this thread

I Am Mine said:

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Trying to watch Seattle/LA.

The turf is horrible to watch.

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4-3 and you are watching the turf you are doing it wrong.

It's annoying for sure.
Sports were not meant for that crap.
I'm sure it's a good match.

Turf is terrible and hard to watch, I agree.

greg.w.h said:

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The brilliance of a running clock, relatively minimal added time, and no visible pauses for playmaking add to under two hours stem to stern including introductions. Less if you accept ties at end of match during the competitive season.

Compared to 3 hours 12 minutes average for American football and 3 hours 9 minutes for Major League Baseball.

The NFL in-season overtime for game resolution with a single additional period isn't terrible because of the single additional period not because of the rest.

Neither game is likely to experiment with rules that significantly shorten games unless competitors emerge. Instead...they'll just continue leaking interest like a balloon with a piece of tape that you push a needle through.

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FIFA has determined in some previous World Cup tournaments that the average amount of time the ball was actually in play during games was roughly 55 minutes.
I wish that they has were divided into 30 minutes with the clock being stopped each time the ball was not in play. This would eliminate all the annoying fake fouls intentionally delays of the game and other impedances. You would have a lot smoother game and there will be no added extra time. Every match would be 60 minutes long.

The crossover for me happened about 2 years ago. I didn't think it would ever happen, but soccer is so far ahead of college football and it's not close. < 2 hours is a huge bonus. I may be the minority here, but soccer is more exciting than football....it's true.

Hard pass.

Soccer is more enjoyable as the entertainment but football/baseball are better as background entertainment to have a bunch of people over. The pace allows for conversation and snacking.

I think football needs to change the viewing angle they use. It's so frustrating to have the ball be snapped, and then within 1-2 seconds half the players are off the screen.

I'm firmly in this camp as well, but soccer certainly has its own problems. Like the ridiculous international break schedules. The big European club seasons have all started, what do we need? An international break of course!

MLS is in full swing coming down to playoff time. What do we need? An international break so that the best teams lose their best players but have to play any way of course!

That is MLS' problem. The other leagues plan around it.

The bigger problems for soccer are the inconsistencies in VAR. it's almost like targeting in NCAA football.

I Am Mine said:

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That is MLS' problem. The other leagues plan around it.

The bigger problems for soccer are the inconsistencies in VAR. it's almost like targeting in NCAA football.

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Agree with both points. I do think VAR will be a great addition to the game but it's going to take a couple seasons to work out the kinks.

I get that the Euro leagues plan around it, it doesn't change the fact that we don't need an international break at the beginning of September.

It is quite the buzzkill 4 games in to have this break that breaks up momentum.

I get the complaint. However, most of the world's national teams are playing meaningful games this international break. Its not such a buzzkill when your national team is playing a meaningful game.

E.g. a lot of Germans and Dutch are going to be super buzzed during their Euro qualifier game on Friday night.

When ESPN does the all 22 camera angle on the Ocho or wherever for big games I watch that exclusively

College football is the wife.

Soccer is the mistress.