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Home/Wire/Overtime in the four major leagues: how NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB games are extended

Overtime in the four major leagues: how NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB games are extended

Rules side by side

Updated

Independent desk. Figures are traced to named sources and corrections are logged — see the editorial policy.

Ten minutes, five minutes, a three-on-three shootout, a runner on second base. Each league ends a tied game in a different way.

By NY Sports Express Desk · Published September 21, 2026

Canada wins GOLD! The whole team takes to the ice to start the celebration, seconds after Sidney Crosby scores the overtime winning goal, while the tens of mill
Photo: s.yume from Calgary, Canada / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

A tied score after regulation is settled differently in each of the four major North American leagues, and the differences go back to what each sport can tolerate: a baseball game can run indefinitely, while a football team can only play so many snaps.

NFL

In the regular season, overtime is a single period of up to 10 minutes. Both teams are guaranteed a possession unless the team that receives the kickoff scores a touchdown on its first drive. If the score is still level after 10 minutes, the game ends as a tie. In the playoffs the periods are 15 minutes, both teams are guaranteed a possession since the 2022 season, and play continues until there is a winner.

NBA

A tied game goes to a five-minute period, and as many as are needed follow until one team leads at the end of a period. There is no shootout and no tie.

NHL

In the regular season, overtime is a five-minute, three-on-three, sudden-death period. If no one scores, the game goes to a shootout, which decides the extra point in the standings. In the playoffs, overtime is played with full teams of five skaters, in 20-minute periods, until someone scores.

MLB

A baseball game goes to extra innings until one team leads at the end of an inning. Since 2020, each extra inning begins with a runner on second base, a rule that was first a temporary measure and was made permanent in 2023 to shorten long games.

What it means for the standings

  • The NFL is the only one of the four where a game can end tied.
  • The NHL awards a point to the team that loses in overtime or a shootout.
  • The NBA and MLB have no ties and no shootouts.

Sources

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