How long is the Super Bowl? Here's the average game time for the last 20 years
The Super Bowl is one of the biggest spectacles on the yearly sports calendar. The NFL likes to milk the game for all it's worth.
From extensive pregame coverage of the event to a longer halftime to accommodate a brief-but-world-class musical performance, the Super Bowl has become an all-day event. Naturally, that leads the Big Game to be longer than the average NFL contest, which typically lasts just over 3 hours.
How long is the Super Bowl on average? Here's what to know about the length of the last 20 Super Bowls, all of which have taken at least 3 hours and 14 minutes to complete.
How long is the Super Bowl?
The average length of the last 20 Super Bowls, dating back to 2005, is just about 3 hours and 37 minutes. Two of the 20 games played lasted an excess of four hours while the shortest of the bunch was Super Bowl 44, which saw the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in just 3 hours and 14 minutes.
Below is a look at the length of each of the last 20 Super Bowls:
- Super Bowl 39: 3 hours, 38 minutes
- Super Bowl 40: 3 hours, 36 minutes
- Super Bowl 41: 3 hours, 31 minutes
- Super Bowl 42: 3 hours, 35 minutes
- Super Bowl 43: 3 hours, 38 minutes
- Super Bowl 44: 3 hours, 14 minutes
- Super Bowl 45: 3 hours, 32 minutes
- Super Bowl 46: 3 hours, 23 minutes
- Super Bowl 47: 4 hours, 14 minutes
- Super Bowl 48: 3 hours, 23 minutes
- Super Bowl 49: 3 hours, 36 minutes
- Super Bowl 50: 3 hours, 43 minutes
- Super Bowl 51: 3 hours, 47 minutes
- Super Bowl 52: 3 hours, 46 minutes
- Super Bowl 53: 3 hours, 32 minutes
- Super Bowl 54: 3 hours, 29 minutes
- Super Bowl 55: 3 hours, 35 minutes
- Super Bowl 56: 3 hours, 26 minutes
- Super Bowl 57: 3 hours, 31 minutes
- Super Bowl 58: 4 hours, 6 minutes
Longest Super Bowl in NFL history
Super Bowl 47 was the longest in NFL history in terms of duration. The Baltimore Ravens' 34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers lasted 4 hours and 14 minutes thanks largely to a 34-minute, second-half delay after the lights in the Superdome went out.
Super Bowl 58 was the longest NFL championship game in terms of time played. The Kansas City Chiefs beat the 49ers on a Mecole Hardman touchdown with 3 seconds left in overtime; that brought the total time played in the contest to 74 minutes and 57 seconds.