What it is

A game has four quarters of 15 minutes each, with a longer break after the second quarter, called halftime. The clock stops for many reasons, so a game takes about three hours.

In a game

If the score is tied at the end, an overtime period is played.

More detail

The clock stops on incomplete passes, when a player goes out of bounds, after scores and penalties, and for timeouts. Each team gets three timeouts per half. The last two minutes of each half have an automatic stop, called the two-minute warning.

Animated play

1. A game has four quarters of 15 minutes each. That is 60 minutes of playing time.
2. After the second quarter there is a halftime break of about 12 minutes, and the teams switch ends.
3. The clock does not run all the time. It stops after incomplete passes, when a player runs out of bounds, after scores and during timeouts. That is why a game lasts about three hours on TV.
4. At the two-minute mark of the second and fourth quarters there is an automatic pause called the two-minute warning.
5. If the score is tied after four quarters, the teams play overtime.