a lot's been made about length of games in the last week or so, and it has increased by about 15 minutes over the last few years. i think the best options would be, in the following order (though maybe not realistic):
1. Figure out a way to cut down on commercials. It's absurd. Unbelievable that ESPN+ (which is functionally a PPV option) has 3:10 ad breaks as often as it does. Probably not realistic, but that's where the most ire should go.
2. Video reviews. Unbelievably inefficient. First, adopt NFL challenge rules. No reason every single play needs to be reviewed. If a team wants to take a swing at a challenge on a particular play, that's when it should happen. Second, am I correct that the white hat is still actually going over to the little box and watching the play? If so, why? Get an official from a central location (or up in the pressbox if you want) and let them be the Replay official and when it's time to review, have him look at the tv already in front of his face with all the controls and make the call, which he can transmit down to the white hat via telecom. There's ostensibly already a guy who watches ever replay anyway (since every play is reviewed). It's such an antiquated system to have the white hat jog sometimes 80 yards, so he can replay the play on a teensy tiny television. Then jog back. It's the future guys. Let's use the tech we have to delegate
3. I imagine halftime could be cut a little bit while still allowing ample time for the band to do its thing. Maybe not.
Anyway, I think 1 and 2 are the biggest culprits, and since the TV ghouls need to pay for their exorbitant contracts somehow, 1 is probably not very realistic. With that in mind, let's see if we can cut down on the number of reviews and get them resolved in 30 seconds or so using the magic of telephones.
