Trying to speed up baseball games is ridiculous. In 2014, the average MLB game lasted three hours and two minutes, a length sportswriters claim kills fan interest.
But games in the NFL, the most popular and profitable sports league in America, last an average of three hours and twelve minutes. That's ten minutes longer than a MLB game.
Of that time, the ball was in play for only 11 minutes. Almost twice as much time, 17 minutes, was spent showing replays.
Of the remaining time, 75 minutes is spent showing players standing around. Commercials take up the rest, a full hour, of the average NFL broadcast. That's six times more time watching commercials than actual game play.
So clearly the problem with baseball isn't the length of games or pace of play, two measures in which they beat the NFL.
