how long is a quarter in a nfl football game
American football Football games last for a total of 60 minutes in professional and college play and are divided into two-halves of 30 minutes and four-quarters of 15 minutes.[71][72] High school football games are 48 minutes in length with two-halves of 24 minutes and four-quarters of 12 minutes.[73] The two-halves are separated by a halftime period, and the first and third quarters are also followed by a short break.[71][72][74] Prior to the start of the game, the referee and team captains for each team meet at midfield for a coin toss. The visiting team is allowed to call 'heads' or 'tails'; the winner of the toss is allowed to decide between choosing whether to receive or kick off the ball or choosing which goal they want to defend, but they can also defer their choice until the second half. The losing team, unless the winning team decides to defer, is allowed to choose the option the winning team did not select, and receives the option to receive, kick, or select a goal to defend to begin the second half. Most teams choose to receive or defer, because choosing to kick the ball to start the game would allow the other team to choose which goal to defend.[75] Teams switch goals following the first and third quarters.[76] If a down is in progress when a quarter ends, play continues until the down is completed.[77][78][79]
60 Minutes The program sometimes does not start until after 7:00 p.m. Eastern, due largely to CBS' live broadcast of NFL games. At the conclusion of an NFL game, 60 Minutes will air in its entirety. However, on the West Coast (and all of the Mountain Time Zone), because the actual end of the live games is much earlier in the afternoon in comparison to the Eastern and Central time zones, 60 Minutes is always able to start at its normal start time of 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time, leaving affiliates free to broadcast local news, the CBS Evening News, and other local or syndicated programming leading up to 60 Minutes. The program's success has also led CBS Sports to schedule events (such as the final round of the Masters Tournament and the second round and regional final games of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament) leading into 60 Minutes and the rest of the network's primetime lineup, thus (again, except on the West Coast) pre-empting the Sunday editions of the CBS Evening News and affiliates' local newscasts.