End zone

The end zone is the scoring area on the field in gridiron-based codes of football. It is the space between the end line and goal line, bordered by the sidelines. There are two end zones, one on each side of the field. They are marked by white lines and have orange pylons at each corner to help players and officials see where the area begins and ends.

In Canadian football, the end zone is called the goal area, and the end line is called the dead line. But most people in Canada still use the words "end zone" and "end line" in everyday conversation.

Unlike sports such as association football and ice hockey, where the ball or puck must completely cross the goal line to count as a score, in both Canadian and American football, even just a part of the ball crossing the goal line is enough to count as a score.

Other sports also have similar areas. In rugby football, the scoring area is called the in-goal area. To score in rugby, a player must touch the ball to the ground in this area, which is different from football where simply having the ball in the end zone is enough. Ultimate frisbee also uses an end zone, where a pass caught in the end zone counts as a score.

History

The end zones in football were created when the forward pass was allowed. Before this, players scored by crossing a line at the end of the field. In 1912, American football added end zones to make passing the ball easier and safer. These zones were 12 yards deep, and the main playing field was shortened from 110 yards to 100 yards.

Canadian football added end zones later, in 1929. They made the end zones 25 yards deep to change some scoring rules. By 1986, these were reduced to 20 yards to match improvements in stadium sizes.

Scoring

A team scores a touchdown by moving into the other team's end zone with the ball or catching the ball there. If a player carries the ball into the end zone, it counts as a score when any part of the ball is past the goal line. After a touchdown, the team can try for a two-point conversion using the same method.

In Ultimate Frisbee, a goal is scored by throwing the disc into the opponent's end zone.

Size

The end zone in American football is 10 yards long and 53 and a third yards wide. In Canadian football, the end zone is 20 yards long and 65 yards wide. Before the 1980s, Canadian end zones were longer, but a stadium in Vancouver introduced the shorter style, and it became popular.

Some Canadian stadiums have special shapes for their end zones to fit around running tracks. During a time when Canadian football tried to expand in America, some stadiums used even shorter end zones.

Ultimate Frisbee also uses end zones, which are 40 yards wide and 20 yards deep.

The goal post

The goal post looks different depending on the league, but it is usually inside the end zone area. In older football games, the goal post started at the goal line and looked like an H-shaped bar. Today, for safety reasons, most goal posts in professional and college American football are T-shaped (like a slingshot) and sit just outside the end zones. This type of goal post was first used in 1966 and was invented by Jim Trimble and Joel Rottman in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

In Canadian football, the goal posts are still placed on the goal line. This is because moving them back would reduce the number of field goal attempts, and the larger end zones and wider field make interference less of a problem.

At the high school level, you might see goal posts that can be used for both football and soccer. These posts have football goal parts at the top and a soccer net at the bottom. They are often found at smaller schools or in multi-purpose stadiums. When used for football, the lower parts of these posts are covered with foam padding to keep players safe.

Livery

Many football teams paint their logo, name, or both on the end zone, using their team colors as the background. In big games, the names of the two teams playing might each be painted in opposite end zones. Sometimes, sponsors’ logos are also added to the end zones.

In smaller schools, end zones might have simple white lines instead of team colors. For example, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish use diagonal white lines to show the year their school was founded. Some teams change their end zone designs to share space between different sports teams. After one team’s season ends, they might paint a new logo for the next team.