I really enjoy both American and Rest-of-the-World football, but this simple fact just brings home the reason why the former is seen as kind of a joke. American football, in spite of its bone-crushing violence and, perhaps, because of its imperative for precisely executed, scripted, team-coordinated behavior, can be pretty boring to watch on TV.
Out of the typical 2 hours and 54 minutes of the average NFL broadcast, a whole 11 minutes actually feature live game action. … The lion’s share of camera time, about 75 minutes worth, is devoted to players standing around on the field. … An unsurprising second is commercial breaks, making up about an hour of the broadcast. … Heck, even replays get a larger slice of the pie than actual game action; 17 minutes or so.
