SI Article: College Football Executives Considering Four Changes To Shorten Games

The real reason is to get more commercials in. Reduce plays, increase tv commercial time = >>$$

Recent past years Average times of 3:18 to 3:21 is not a big deal.

Tinkering is what pin heads and wonks do. Create a solution to a non-existent problem.

 

Keeping the clock running after an incomplete pass is stupid.

 

Well that last paragraph certainly sounds familiar on many levels.

 

Yes to letting the clock run after first downs. Very interesting that Div II & III games are an hour shorter. Hello tv and a deluge of crappy mind numbing commercials.

College football officials considering these rule changes to shorten games, limit 'exposures' for athletes

 

Exactly. Clearly, if you want to shorten the "length" of games, show less commercials and don't hold up the game to show commercials.

This is the adjustment I have to make every weekend when switching from EPL in the morning to college in the afternoon, the literal bombardment of commercials starting with the kickoff. After 2-3 hours of commercial free action, it usually takes me about 30 minutes to adjust to all the commercials.

 

The best clock setup ever in sports, especially for someone like me who loathes commercials. 45-15-45 + stoppage time. Absolutely brilliant!

 

I watch most games on tv and I'm a clock watcher.
It's interesting how quickly they re-start the clock after a first down and even a play OOB when it doesn't matter. (1st and 3rd quarters, but more than that.)
So the plan to not stop the clock after a first down would hardly make a difference until crunch time.

IMO- they do need to make the games more efficient...
1) Change the targeting rule. I'm not sure how, but one way is to call the penalty, get the player off the field, and then review while the game is proceeding.
If the foul was egregious, then suspend him. If not, then let him back ON the field. Targeting stoppages take too long.

2) Cut the commercial breaks from 2.30 or more to 2:00 at most. College games stop FAR TOO LONG.

Edit: unclear wording.

 

And everything over in 2 hours. You can literally plan your day around it. It's also why I don't see American Football ever catching on big over there. Could you imagine going from that to this crapshow where you're literally bombarded for 4 hours, where there's actually more commercials than actual on-field action?

 

Did you know most games only have 20-25 minutes of actual gameplay after a snap?

So we spend 3-4 hours to watch 20 minutes of game time. We’ve been trained to be patient.

 

This sounds like spring game rules. The multiple icing the kicker rule is a good one... that has always been a play that's as ridiculous to watch as the intentional fouls in basketball. Everything else just has the net effect of reducing the amount of entertainment value received in exchange for the ever-increasing ticket price paid for by fans. Less plays per dollar paid. Not much that's been done to college football since the forward pass has seemed to add to entertainment value... only detract. I have no issue with the length of games; they're fun.

 

Here's a list that includes some of the already discussed....
1. Less commercials is obvious and any more is not helping
2. Keep all reviews to less than 2 minutes. If officials can't figure it out any quicker then go with the knowledge you have. Ambiguity is part of every game. Even with the longest review they get some wrong. A few seconds back on the clock in the first quarter isn't going to matter.
3. Start games at the time scheduled not 7-10 minutes after the appointed time. We don't need 7 minutes of analogies or checking back with the studio who you got or even what do you know another round of commercials.
4. Cut down on between play noise. Show the replay and get on with it. Yes this includes such heritage excuses like cowbells. Put the focus on the game not the production crew. How many other game interruptions do we need.
5. Reduce fake injuries. We have all seen it, especially in lower tier teams. New rule, any player that has to have play stopped for medical attention must sit out the remainder of the possession, other than the QB. We must put a stop to guys looking over at the sidelines where coaches are waving them to fall over to stop the clock and act like they have a cramp. This usually triggers, yep to guessed it, more commercials. The point is, if a player is actually hurt, they probably need to be held out a few plays to prevent further injury, especially in these days of concussions. If a player hurts a finger or lower arm, they have the choice to get off the field. If needed officials could hold the snap for ten seconds to allow another player to enter. Players that are cramping need time to hydrate, thus stay off the field until the next possession.
6. Reduce coach conferences with officials. These should only be during timeouts. So if I coach is upset they should either have to call a timeout or throw a coaches flag or something so that these interruptions are accounted for. I don't like this but some coaches get away with it far more than others and cause delays in the game flow.
7. Reduce halftime and end of 1st and 3rd quarter breaks by 1 minute each. These seem to be the longest breaks during the game for extra commercials. Play all the commercials you want for the 18 minutes or however long during halftime but don't reduce the effect during game play.
8. Every touchdown does not need a review. Some games feel like every time there's a score we must go to a review. This is crazy. Sure officials cannot always tell when the knee hits and where the ball is at the same moment. But sometimes if it looks like a score then let it be a score if the official saw it that way. Perhaps a good rule might be if a team is up by more than 2 touchdowns then no review should be needed. Sure this is controversial but I'm tired of touchdowns needing a review more times than not.