How Long Does The 2017 Super Bowl And Halftime Show Last? Viewing Info For Patriots vs. Falcons Game

Not everyone loves football. But when Super Bowl Sunday rolls around it almost seems required for Americans to watch the biggest football game of the year. This year, the New England Patriots meet the Atlanta Falcons at NRG Stadium in Houston in what should be another lengthy event.

Watching a Super Bowl can feel like an endurance test. A standard Super Bowl broadcast lasts about 3 hours and 35 minutes despite a game lasting 60 minutes.

Since Sunday's actual kickoff is scheduled for about 6:39 p.m. EST, one could reasonably expect the game to end at about 10:15 p.m. ET. But football games can drag on for a vareity of reasons, especially if an overtime needs to be played. There is a decent chance game the game ends at about 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET.

In theory, football games should go by far quicker than they actually do. One hour of game time is broken down into four, 15-minute quarters. Each team is afforded three timeouts per half, which stops the gameclock for two minutes. These are in addition to breaks in the game, such as scoring plays, and pre-planned "television timeouts" aimed at maximizing the ad space in broadcast. A typical NFL viewing experience features 20 commercial breaks, about 100 ads and just 11 minutes of actual football action. An average football play lasts just about four seconds.

The NFL does its best to make the Super Bowl an enjoyable viewing experience for non-football fans by offering other elements to the game. Most notably is the halftime show, which is a performance that offers mainstream appeal. This year's performer is Lady Gaga.

Because of the halftime performances, Super Bowls take even longer than a normal NFL game because the mid-game break is typically twice as long as the usual 12-15 minutes. The actual halftime peformance usually lasts about 13 minutes.