Overtime (sports)

Overtime, also called extra time, is a way to decide a winner in sports when the game ends in a tie. After the regular time ends with equal scores, teams or players compete in an extra period to find a winner. This is especially important in single-elimination tournaments where only one team can move forward, and replays are not allowed.

Different sports have different rules for overtime. Some use "sudden death," where the first team to score wins right away, also called the golden goal. In other cases, the extra time runs for a set period, and if it's still tied, the game might end as a draw, continue with more overtime, or use a penalty shootout to pick the winner.

Association football

In association football, if the score is tied at the end of regular time in knockout competitions, teams play an extra 30 minutes called extra time. This break is short, and players stay near the field. The extra time has two 15-minute halves, with a switch of sides in between. Not all competitions use extra time; they can choose their own way to decide a winner.

In some competitions, like FIFA competitions and top continental team contests, extra time is used if the score is tied after regular time. In two-leg matches, extra time is only used in the second leg if needed. Some competitions, like the FA Cup, used to have replays until a winner was found, but now they limit replays and use extra time instead. If the score is still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out usually decides the winner.

In U.S. college soccer, games tied after 90 minutes used to go into sudden-death overtime, where the first team to score would win. Now, regular season games don’t use this rule anymore. For tournament games, two 10-minute periods are played, and if still tied, a penalty shoot-out decides the winner.

High school rules vary by state, but most use sudden-death overtime where the first team to score wins. If still tied, more overtime periods or a penalty shoot-out can be used to find a winner.

American and Canadian football

National Football League

See also: List of NFL tied games

In the National Football League (NFL), extra time is played when a game is tied at the end of regular time. During regular-season games, if the score is still tied after one 10-minute extra time period, the game ends in a tie. In postseason games, longer 15-minute periods are played until there is a winner.

Procedure

At the start of extra time, there is another coin toss to decide some rules. The team that wins the coin toss chooses whether to kick or receive the ball first. The game continues similarly to regular time, and each team gets two breaks to stop the clock.

The winner is decided in these ways:

• Each team gets at least one chance to play with the ball.
• The team with the most points after both teams have had a turn wins.
• If the team that gets the ball first doesn’t score, or if the score is still tied after both teams have had a turn, the next team to score wins.
• Any score by the defense, like returning a turnover for a touchdown, wins the game.
• The game ends in a tie if it’s still tied after the 10-minute period.

Because playoff games cannot end in a tie, the extra time rules are changed for these games:

• Each team gets three breaks to stop the clock instead of two.
• Each team gets at least one chance to play with the ball.
• Extra time periods are 15 minutes instead of 10.
• If the score is still tied after the first extra time period, or if the second team hasn’t finished their first chance, more 15-minute periods are played until there is a winner.
• If more than one extra time period is needed:
  • There is a two-minute break between periods.
  • The rules for the second extra time period are different.
  • There is no break after the second extra time period, and another coin toss happens at the end of every fourth extra time period; however, no playoff game has gone into a third extra time yet.

History

The NFL started using extra time for some important games in the 1940s. In 1974, extra time was added for regular season and preseason games. Until 2016, the extra time period was 15 minutes in all games; in 2017, it was changed to 10 minutes in regular season games, while it stays 15 minutes for playoff games.

In 2010, NFL owners changed the extra time rules for postseason games, and these changes were also used in the regular season starting in 2012.

Since no 2010 postseason game went into extra time, the first game to use these new rules was in the wild-card round in 2011. This game was also the shortest extra time in NFL history until 2019; Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham kicked off and the ball went out of the end zone, resulting in a touchback with no time taken off the clock. Tim Tebow, then with the Denver Broncos, threw an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play to Demaryius Thomas to give the Broncos the win in only 11 seconds.

The first time the “first-possession field goal” rule was used happened on September 9, 2012, in a game between the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars. Minnesota’s Blair Walsh kicked a 38-yard field goal on the Vikings’ first drive. When Jacksonville got the ball back, they failed to gain any yardage and lost possession on a failed fourth-down conversion.

The first extra time where both teams scored happened on November 18, 2012, in a game between the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars; the Texans won 43–37. The first extra time game that ended in a tie after both teams scored in extra time happened on November 24, 2013, when the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers played to a 26–26 tie.

On February 5, 2017, a Super Bowl went into extra time for the first time, with the New England Patriots defeating the Atlanta Falcons, 34–28; the Patriots scored a touchdown on their first chance, so the Falcons never got the ball in extra time.

On December 29, 2019, in their season finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Falcons ended the game with a pick-six seven seconds into extra time by Deion Jones, breaking the record for the shortest extra time in NFL history.

A 2022 rule change gives both teams one chance to play with the ball at the start of the first extra time in playoff games, no matter whether a touchdown is scored first; the changes were also used in the regular season starting in 2025. The first game to go into extra time under this rule was Super Bowl LVIII following the 2023 season. However, this game was not affected by the rule change; the San Francisco 49ers kicked a field goal on their first chance and the Kansas City Chiefs, who eventually scored a walk-off touchdown on their chance, would have gotten a chance under the pre-2022 rule as well.

Other professional football leagues

The Arena Football League and NFL Europe used a different extra time rule where each team got one chance to score. Whoever was leading after one chance won the game; if the teams were still tied after one chance, the game went to sudden death. This rule was also used by the second United Football League in its 2009 season. All extra time periods after that were true sudden death periods.

The short-lived World Football League, in its 1974 season, used a fifteen-minute quarter of extra time, divided into two halves. It was not sudden death.

The New York Pro Football League, a league from the 1910s that later had some of its teams join the NFL, used replays to decide ties in its playoff tournament. The replay was used in the 1919 tournament to decide the championship between the Buffalo Prospects and the Rochester Jeffersons. The teams had played to a tie on Thanksgiving; Buffalo won the replay 20–0 to win the championship.

The current United Football League settles ties by having teams try three rounds of 2-point conversions from the 5-yard line. A coin toss is called by the visiting team; the winner of the toss can choose to get the ball first or defend. Whoever scores the most points after three rounds wins; otherwise, teams play sudden-death rounds until one team scores. One break can be called per extra time round.

College, high school, and Canadian football

In college (since the 1996 season) and high school football, as well as the Canadian Football League (since the 2000 season) and the short-lived Alliance of American Football, an extra time procedure is used to decide the winner. This method is sometimes called the “Kansas Playoff” or “Kansas Plan” because it started in high school football in that state. Here’s a simple summary of the rules:

• A coin toss decides which team scores first and which end zone they aim for.
• Each team gets one turn to score, starting from a set point on the opponent’s side of the field.
  • In college, the first turn starts at the opponent’s 25-yard line. The rules for later turns have changed a few times since 2019.
    • In 2019 and 2020, the first four turns for each team started at the 25-yard line. All later turns were two-point conversion attempts from the 3-yard line.
    • Since 2021, the first two turns for each team start at the 25-yard line. All later turns are two-point conversion attempts.
  • In high school, the turn usually starts at the 10-yard line, and all plays are from close range. However, high school rules can vary, and some use the 15-, 20-, or 25-yard lines. The AAF also used the 10-yard line.
  • In the CFL, where a single point can be scored on a punt, the turn starts at the 35-yard line.
• The play clock runs normally. There is no game clock, and all play is untimed.
• A team’s turn ends when they score, miss a field goal, or turn over the ball.
• In high school, college, and the CFL, a field goal can be kicked at any time. If the first team fails to score, the opponent, usually within field goal range, can end the game by kicking one. In the CFL, one can also end the game with a single point. In the AAF, no field goals were allowed at any time during extra time.
• As usual, a touchdown by the offense is followed by a try for one or two points. In NCAA football since 2021, teams must try a two-point conversion after a touchdown in double extra time; all later turns are two-point conversion attempts and are scored as such. Since 2010, CFL teams must also try the two-point conversion after any touchdown in extra time. The AAF required two-point conversions after any touchdown.
• In college football, the defense may score a touchdown if they get the ball back from the offense; this ends the game. In high school football, the defense usually cannot score if they get the ball, although some high school rules allow it. If scoring isn’t allowed or the turnover doesn’t end with a score, the team takes over offense and starts their turn from the set position.
• Each team gets one break per turn (except in the CFL, and as of 2025, NCAA football limits teams to one break to use starting with triple extra time until the game ends).
• If the score is still tied after the first extra time period, the procedure repeats. The team with the second turn in one extra time gets the first turn in the next extra time.
• In the CFL, regular-season games can have only two extra time procedures, and if the scores are still tied, the game is a tie, but in playoff games, extra time periods continue until there is a winner. The AAF did the same, except regular-season games ended after only one extra time procedure, no matter the score. (The AAF folded before it ever played any playoff games.)
• In American college and high school football, extra time periods continue until there is a winner.
• All points scored in extra time count as if they were scored during regular time.

Record and notable extra time games

On two occasions, only two plays were needed to decide an extra time winner in an NCAA football game: on September 26, 2002, when Louisville defeated Florida State 26–20 and on September 27, 2003, when Georgia Tech defeated Vanderbilt 24–17.

It is possible for a college game to end after one play in extra time if the defense gets the ball back and scores a touchdown: on September 9, 2005, Ohio defeated Pittsburgh 16–10 on an 85-yard interception return by Dion Byrum on the third play of extra time. It is also possible for the defense to get a safety on the first play of extra time (which would also end the game), but this would require the offense to lose 75 yards on the play, which is extremely unlikely (such a scenario is known in regular play from scrimmage in college football but never in an extra time period).

As of the beginning of the 2024 season, the Tennessee Volunteers have played in the most extra time college football games, going 15–8 across the 23 games.

The college game with the most extra time periods was on October 23, 2021, when Illinois defeated Penn State, 20–18, in nine extra time periods. Before that, five games had been decided in seven extra time periods: Arkansas vs. Ole Miss in 2001, Arkansas vs. Kentucky in 2003, North Texas vs. FIU in 2006, Western Michigan vs. Buffalo in 2017, and LSU vs. Texas A&M in 2018, the latter of which led to the 2019 rule change that required two-point conversion attempts after a certain number of extra time periods. In 2024, Georgia defeated Georgia Tech 44–42 in eight extra time periods, the second-longest NCAA game up to that point.

The most extra time needed to decide a bowl game in Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history is six, which happened in the 2024 GameAbove Sports Bowl.

Overtime formats

The Kansas System was first used in 1971. The original Kansas System had each team start on the 10-yard line. That first year, 70 games in the state went into extra time with one game needing five extra time periods to decide a winner. After the system was reviewed positively by most coaches and administrators in the state, Kansas State High School Activities Association leaders presented the system to the National Federation of State High School Associations, who approved letting state associations use the extra time system for two years. Two years later the extra time system became a permanent option for state associations to use.

Another type of extra time system was once used by the California Interscholastic Federation. Known as the “California tiebreaker”, it was used in high school football from 1968 through the 1970s and 1980s. The California tiebreaker starts with the ball placed at the 50-yard line, and the teams run four plays each (a coin toss decides who goes first), alternating possession at the spot of the ball after every play. If no one scores (field goals are not allowed), then the team that is in its opponent’s territory at the end of the eight plays is awarded one point and declared the winner. When the California tiebreaker was finally stopped, it was replaced by the Kansas tiebreaker.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association did not adopt the Kansas tiebreaker for its playoffs until 1977, as did Texas per the University Interscholastic League and Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools through 1995. Before this, for Louisiana, if a game ended in a tie, the team with the most first downs was declared the winner; if that was tied, the next rule was penetrations inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. On at least two occasions, both of those rules were even after a tied game, forcing a replay. As for Texas, tiebreakers were: first, most penetrations on or inside the opponent’s 20; second, first downs; third, total yardage; and a coin toss if all of those failed.

Basketball

In basketball, if the score is tied at the end of the regular game, teams play extra periods of five minutes each to decide a winner. In high school games, these periods are shorter, lasting four minutes. Some leagues use a jump ball to start overtime, while others let teams take turns Possessing the ball.

If the score is still tied after an overtime period, they keep playing more periods until someone wins. Sometimes, special rules are used to make sure the game ends quickly, like setting a target score that teams need to reach. This helps make sure every game has a winner without playing forever.

Ice hockey

Main article: Overtime (ice hockey)

In ice hockey, it's common for games to end with tied scores because not many goals are scored. When this happens, some leagues play extra time called overtime to decide a winner.

In the NHL and PWHL during regular season games, if the score is tied after the normal three 20-minute periods, teams play a short 5-minute overtime period. During this time, each team has fewer players on the ice. If no one scores, the game moves to a shootout where players take turns trying to score alone against the goalie.

In playoff games and important tiebreaker games, teams play longer full 20-minute periods until someone scores, with many games going through several extra periods to find a winner. International tournaments also use different overtime rules, sometimes with longer periods or shootouts to decide the champion.

Handball

In handball, if the score is tied at the end of the game, two extra periods of 5 minutes each are played. If the score is still tied after these extra periods, they are played again once more. If the teams are still tied, the winner is decided by a penalty shootout.

Baseball and softball

Main article: Extra innings

In baseball and softball, if the game ends with the scores tied after the usual number of innings, more innings called "extra innings" are played until one team is ahead at the end of an inning. This means that if a team scores in the top half of an inning, the other team gets a chance to score in the bottom half. If they tie the game again, more innings are played.

Some leagues have special rules. For example, in Nippon Professional Baseball, Chinese Professional Baseball League, and the Korea Baseball Organization, games cannot go past 12 innings in some cases. In 2017, some leagues tried a new rule where a runner starts on second base in extra innings to make the game end faster. This rule is now used in Major League Baseball for regular-season games.

Cricket

Main article: Result (cricket) § Tiebreakers

In cricket, games can sometimes end in a tie, meaning both teams have the same score. In most cases, this is okay, but sometimes a winner is needed, like in tournaments. One way to decide a winner is called the Super Over. In this extra session, each team gets to play six balls, called an over, to try to score more points than the other team. If the Super Over ends in another tie, some tournaments may have another Super Over to find a winner.

In the past, there was a method called a bowlout, where bowlers tried to hit an unguarded wicket. This was used only once in a big tournament when India beat Pakistan after the scores were tied.

Rugby league

See also: Golden point

Rugby league games sometimes use overtime if the scores are tied after the normal 80 minutes. One way to decide the winner is called the golden point. In this system, the first team to score — whether with a try, penalty goal, or field goal — wins the game right away. The golden point period lasts five minutes, then the teams switch sides for another five minutes. If no one scores during these extra periods, the game may end in a draw, or they keep playing until someone scores.

Rugby union

In rugby tournaments like the Rugby World Cup, if the score is tied after the regular game ends, they play two extra periods of 10 minutes each with a short break in between. If it's still tied after these periods, they play one more sudden-death period of 10 minutes. If no one scores during this time, they use a kicking competition to decide the winner. Some leagues have different rules, like counting the number of tries scored.

For example, in a match between Exeter Chiefs and Montpellier in 2023, the score was tied at the end of extra time. Instead of a penalty shootout, they looked at the number of tries scored to decide the winner.

The Super Rugby competition also has a special extra-time rule called "Golden Point" (renamed to "Super Point" in 2025). If the score is tied at the end of the game, they play a 10-minute period where the first team to score wins. If it's still tied after that, the game ends in a draw. This rule was first used in a match between the Western Force and Hurricanes on 19 April 2025.

Rugby sevens

In rugby sevens, extra time is only used in important knockout stages of competitions like the Rugby World Cup Sevens, Olympic Games, and Commonwealth Games. Before the 2023–24 season, extra time was only used in these stages for the World Rugby Sevens Series. Starting from the 2023–24 season, extra time is also used in the early stages of the World Rugby Sevens Series.

Extra time starts one minute after the regular game ends and is played in several 5-minute periods. In rugby sevens, the first team to score during extra time wins the match right away. If no team scores at the end of a period, the teams switch ends, and this process continues until one team scores.

Other sports

In Australian rules football, if a game ends in a tie during the regular season, it stays a tie. But in important matches called finals, extra time is played. Teams play two short periods, and if it's still tied, they keep playing until someone scores.

In other sports like bowling, gaelic football, and hurling, there are special rules to decide a winner if the game is tied. Some sports use penalty shootouts, while others play extra periods until there's a clear winner. For example, in futsal and water polo, teams play extra time and then may have a penalty shootout if needed. In NASCAR, races can go longer than planned to make sure there's a clear finish.

Longest games

American football

Six National Football League playoff games have gone into double overtime, the longest being an AFC divisional playoff game on 25 December 1971. The Miami Dolphins defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27–24 at 7:40 into double overtime (at 82:40 of total play, the longest game in NFL history). The most recent 2OT NFL game came in an AFC divisional playoff game on 12 January 2013, with the Baltimore Ravens beating the Denver Broncos 38–35.

In the former American Football League, the championship game played on 23 December 1962, the Dallas Texans defeated the Houston Oilers 20–17 on a field goal at 2:54 into double overtime. The former United States Football League had a triple-overtime playoff game on 30 June 1984, with the Los Angeles Express defeating the Michigan Panthers 27–21 on a touchdown 3:33 of triple overtime.

Collegiate (NCAA Division I FBS): Six games have gone to seven overtimes, and one game has gone to nine overtimes. On 24 November 2018, Texas A&M beat LSU 74–72 in a game that had been tied 31–all at end of regulation. On 23 October 2021, Illinois beat Penn State 20–18 in nine overtimes in the longest game in FBS history.

Association football

In the past, some football competitions also allowed successive extra time before the use of penalty shoot-outs. The final game of the 1977 Campeonato Pernambucano de Futebol, which ended with the victory of Sport Recife over Náutico, was decided in the fourth extra time of 15 minutes each, resulting in a game of 158 minutes duration.

The 1922 Final for the German Championship between Hamburger SV and 1. FC Nürnberg had to be called off after 189 minutes at 2–2 as the coming dusk made play impossible.

Baseball

MLB – American League – 8 May 1984: Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7–6 in 25 innings. The game took 8 hours and 6 minutes to decide; play was suspended after 17 innings with the score tied 3-3 and resumed the next night.

MLB – National League – 1 May 1926: Game between the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves ended in a 1–all tie after 26 innings.

MLB Playoffs – 15 October 2022: The Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners in the longest shutout game in postseason history, 1–0 in 18 innings. The game was 6 hours, 22 minutes long.

Basketball

International basketball:

• Summer Olympics: Six games needed two overtimes to finish, four of them in the men's tournament and two in the women's tournament.
• FIBA Basketball World Cup: In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, Germany defeated Angola 108–103 after triple overtime.

NBA – 6 January 1951: The Indianapolis Olympians and the Rochester Royals played six overtimes, with Indianapolis winning 75–73 in a four-hour game.

Ice hockey

Olympics — At the 2018 Winter Games, the USA defeated Canada 3–2 in a shootout in the women's final after both teams went the entire 20-minute overtime period scoreless.

GET-ligaen (premier Norwegian ice hockey league) - 12 March 2017: Storhamar beat Sparta 2–1 in octuple overtime after Joakim Jensen scored the game winner at 17:14 of the 8th overtime period, for a total of 157:14 of overtime and a game length of 217:14.

Tennis

The Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships was a first round Men's Singles match, in which the American 23rd seed John Isner played French qualifier Nicolas Mahut. In total, the match took 11 hours, 5 minutes of play over three days, with a final score of 6–4, 3–6, 6–7^(7–9), 7–6^(7–3), 70–68 for a total of 183 games. It remains by far the longest match in tennis history, measured both by time and number of games.

Summary

In many sports, if the score is tied at the end of the regular time, there is an extra period called overtime or extra time to decide the winner. This extra time is used especially in tournaments where one team must move forward, and playing again is not allowed. The length of overtime is usually measured in minutes unless stated differently.