As the NFL atempts to improve the viewing experience for fans, one area the league where is looking is the ad breaks. Along with million of viewers, Commissioner Roger Goodell himself has rued the score-break-kickoff break sequence. And as it appears that the NFL will consolidate the ad breaks, the changes for the 2018 season will reduce games by an average of five minutes.
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The NFL’s head of officiating Dean Blandino informed owners of the proposed changes at their annual meeting in Phoenix this week.
NFL officials know that games have an average of 156 plays per game and they don’t want to reduce that number. But taking five minutes of dead time will help to reduce the length and also take out that silly score-break-kickoff break sequence.
But even as the NFL lengthened the transition for Sunday afternoon games from three hours to three hours and twenty five minutes, too often the early games were still ongoing as the late games were starting.
By removing five minutes, hopefully the early games will end in their windows allowing for fans to see more of the late afternoon contests. The NFL still has to approve the proposals to cut time, but with the Commish already on board, it’s likely that the owners will give their thumbs up this week.
