Stoppages at prime time games

Gotcha - thanks for telling us that this might be your last prime time game in person!

I agree. I watched it at home and felt the same way. Far too many commercials, or as the referee kept saying, “full media timeout”.

Not sure that’s ever going to get better. Anything on TV is the same way now. 
 

I’d love to know if different networks run different amount of commercials because it feels like the games on FOX flow better than ABC/ESPN.

All three games on ABC yesterday took about 4 hours apiece, which is ridiculous.  In the old days, the morning games would take 3 hours, then crept to 3.5 hours.   College football is great, however it is too fully exploited by the suits running the show.   That said, it is a heckuva lot easier to take when Michigan is winning, so there's that.

I left AAGO at 12:49am. Took me 55 minutes just to get to I-275. Pulled in the driveway a couple of minutes before 2:00am.

Yep, it was late- but DAMN that was fun. Took three people to their first game ever, and they couldn’t say enough about how much of a blast they had.

Fox does it worse than ESPN on every game they broadcast, so get ready for more of this fun all year. 

The only college game on Fox that I've seen end by 3:30 was when they were playing on Wild Card Weekend and Fox had an NFL game up next. 

So the ESPN/ABC prime time game almost became as long as a standard Fox game?

The fans should boo at every tv timeout. Only half kidding. Are they going to push these games to 4.5 or 5 hours in a couple years? 

Welcome to the club. The in-game experience has declined as the tv breaks have gotten longer and more numerous,  but this has been going on for years.

Yep, the breaks are beyond stupid at this point. We need to go to a full media timeout every time someone gets hurt, calls a timeout, or teams change possessions. 

Also last night was my least favorite night game experience by far. I'm disappointed too because they were great seats for only $40 a piece (Section 36, Row 25).

Yeah, yeah "Old Man yells at cloud" (I'm 27) but I feel like the music selection was fucking awful for one, two our crowd takes way too long at starting to make noise when Washington has the ball, especially in my section, I felt like I was the only one yelling at certain points, three I've never been around as many drunk people who couldnt handle themselves. A Washington fan got punched in the face like 10 rows below me with like 5 minutes to go. 

Also are we going full on "no Bo Schembechler" or not? You're not gonna play "The Team, the Team, the Team" video but you'll full on show and mention him in the 1981 Rose Bowl team video? 

And someone correct me if I'm wrong, I was out of the stadium from 3 minutes left before half to the 3rd quarter starting, but I didnt see a single recap of other games around the country. 

to —> too. This might be the last board I’ll ever read.

I haven't been to a game in 4 years because I just don't have the patience. Last game there were thunderstorms looming and instead of trying to hurry things up so the game could end early so people could safely get out, they had 4 minute stoppage after 4 minute stoppage, sometimes with only a kickoff in between. People were loudly booing the red hat guy signaling TV TOs. 

I don't watch games live anymore. I don't watch anything real time. It's all DVR now. 

They ruined it. And it's backfired on them since I now have not seen a commercial in years.

Once in a while, it backfires on us when we get an excited text. But we've learned to ignore our phones if we're really into a game, match, etc.

Yeah, it was a LONG game - especially considering all the running Michigan did.  I started watching it at ~9:40-9:45, and I caught up as the game was ending.  With that much running, I shouldn't have been close...

It was brutal and they don’t give 2 shits about it. Main reason I rarely go to games anymore. At home, I can watch later and FF the constant stops or at least grab a drink or head to the bathroom. Thanks to all the fans that do show up. It looked great, but I just can’t do it anymore. 

That night game we played at Northwestern three years ago was longer.  It was on Fox.

When it was over, I was pretty much convinced I had watched more commercials than actual football.  

At least we didn’t have to sit through that “Fancy” Tik Tok Applebee’s commercial this week!

The schools are going to have to push back against the TV networks at some point. No more maddening mid-drive "full TV timeouts", unless it is the quarter break. Confine the three minute breaks to the quarter and halftime breaks and before and after the game (and maybe before a kickoff after a TD) when it doesn't negatively affect the flow of the game. Otherwise, confine breaks to one to two minutes in length.

The networks did finally start to figure out that they can break away sooner during injury timeouts - and hopefully even video reviews - and get in some of their ads in there.They should make an automatic one minute break for every review or injury time out. This one minute could be extended in 30 second increments as needed in real time, so that minimum additional stoppage as necessary. An additional 10-15 seconds for explanation and/or to show video when returning from the break is all that is necessary.

Besides more commercials (and promos), the other thing that has changed over the years and made many games longer is a lot more passing, which often means more incomplete passes, which stop the clock.They should change the rules to treat incomplete passes in the same wat they now treat plays run out of bounds: until the last few minutes (I'd prefer three or even five, rather than two) of the half, an incomplete pass only stops the clock until the referre gives the RFP signal. This would make games somewhat more uniform in length as well, which would be a mutual benefit to fans and TV.

Was there last night and I agree that it was tough. 
They now have a timer on the scoreboards showing how long the stoppage is.  Don’t recall ever seeing that.

As long as the players don't get any of that money it's fine and the sanctity of the game is safe.

If the FIFA World Cup, Premier League, champions league, etc can all broadcast a game with two uninterrupted 45 minute periods separated by just a 15 minute halftime commercial break, college football and the NFL could too. It’s just clear that football suits have zero respect for the fan experience and want to squeeze every dollar. Hell, bring in uniform ads and on-field ads like soccer if it cuts out ads. It’s getting ridiculous 

sadly money has gotten these folks to throw everything else out, which includes the game-day experience. and what has all the money gotten us? overpaid coaches, ridiculously nice facilities. it's all unnecessary. probably the only actual positive from all the football money is money for other sports. 

The experience became too much hassle for me (and not worth the time & money) and I chose not to renew my season tickets at the end of the 2019.  (My decision was solely about those factors and not the team's performance; I wrote this feedback to the ticket sales office to make certain they knew... for whatever that's worth internally).

Covid hit shortly after, but I still feel the decision was correct.

A football game lasting four hours has about 10 minutes of actual playing time

the games are now little more than revenue generating exhibitions

But I still watch

PASS sucks.