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NFL owners approve big change to overtime rules

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated Apr 1, 2025 11:43 AM ET

NFL owners have approved a significant change to overtime rules that should be quite popular among fans.

A proposal was submitted at the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., this week to change the league’s overtime rules so that both teams have an opportunity to possess the ball in OT during the regular season, regardless of what the receiving team does on the first possession. Previously, if the team that received the ball first scored a touchdown, that team would win the game.

Under previous rules, both teams were given an opportunity to possess the ball in overtime during playoff games. That will be the case in the regular season as well going forward.

The initial proposal also called for expanding the overtime period from 10 minutes to 15 minutes, but it was amended to remove that change. The overtime period will remain 10 minutes.

The NFL’s owners have passed a rule change that will allow both teams to possess the ball in overtime during the regular season, per source.

The overtime period will remain just 10 minutes.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) April 1, 2025

The NFL first modified its sudden-death overtime format during the playoffs in 2010. Two years later, the rules were expanded to cover all games. There was still a sudden-death element to the format with the receiving team able to end the game during the regular season by scoring a touchdown on the opening possession of OT. That was widely unpopular among fans.

Overtime has been rare during the NFL playoffs, but it did come into play in Super Bowl LVIII. One team seemingly did not know the rules at the time.

With the new rule that passed, the overtime coin toss in NFL games — both regular season and postseason — will no longer carry so much weight.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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