Overtime (sports)

In association football knock-out competitions or competition stages, teams play an extra 30 minutes, called extra time, when the deciding leg (or replay of a tie) has not produced a winner by the end of normal or full-time. It follows a short break where players remain on or around the field of play and comprises two straight 15-minute periods, with teams changing ends in between. Although Laws of the Game states that extra time is one of the approved methods on deciding winner, competitions are not bound to adopting extra time, and each competition are free to choose any one or more methods designated in Laws of the Game on deciding winner.

In a one-off tie or deciding replay, level scores nearly always go to extra time. In games played over two legs (such as the UEFA Champions League or FIFA World Cup qualification) or even at lower levels (such as the English Football League play-offs), teams only play extra time in the second leg where the aggregate score – then normally followed by an away goals rule – has not produced a winner first. Ties in the FA Cup used to be decided by as many replays as necessary until one produces a winner within normal time rather than have any extra time or shootouts though, nowadays, replays are limited to just the one with the second going to extra time if teams are still level. Equally, CONMEBOL has historically never used extra time in any of the competitions it directly organises, such as the Copa Libertadores. Today, it uses extra time only in the final match of a competition. The score in games or ties resorting to extra time are often recorded with the abbreviation a.e.t. (after extra time) usually accompanying the earlier score after regulation time.

Ties that are still without a winner after extra time are usually broken by kicks from the penalty spot, commonly called a penalty shootout. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many international matches tried to reduce this by employing the golden goal (also called "sudden death") or silver goal rules (the game ending if a team has the lead after the first 15-minute period of extra time), but competitions have not retained these.

In NCAA college soccer rules, all matches that remain tied after ninety minutes have an overtime period. A sudden death golden goal rule is applied, with the game ending as soon as an overtime goal is scored. If neither team scores in the two ten-minute halves, the match ends in a draw unless it is a conference or national championship tournament match. A playoff game tied after two overtime periods then moves to a penalty kick shoot-out with the winner determined by the teams alternating kicks from the penalty mark.

High school rules vary depending on the state and conference, but most will have a sudden-death overtime procedure wherein the game ends upon scoring a golden goal, although in some instances the overtime will go until completion with the team in the lead after time expires (i.e., silver goal rules) declared the winner. The overtime period length may vary, but it is commonly 10 minutes long. Depending on the state, if the game is still tied at the end of the first overtime:

• As many additional overtime periods – golden or silver goal rules – may be played as needed to determine a winner.
• After one or more overtime periods result in the score remaining tied, a shootout procedure may be played. In a shootout, the coaches or team captains select five players to shoot penalty kicks with teams alternating kicks from the penalty mark in an attempt to put the ball into the net. The procedure continues until each team has taken five kicks, or, if one side has scored more successful kicks, the other could not possibly reach with its remaining kicks.
• If both teams make the same number of successful penalty kicks after all eligible players have taken their first kick, the procedure repeats; the teams are not required to follow the same order of kickers as was used for the first kick, and may replace one or more of the original kickers. The procedure repeats until one side has successfully converted more penalty kicks in a set of five attempts.
• Depending on the state or conference, the game may go directly to a penalty shoot-out, rather than playing overtime.

The NFL introduced overtime for any divisional tiebreak games beginning in 1940, and for championship games beginning in 1946. The first postseason game to be played under these rules was the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants (the "Greatest Game Ever Played").

In 1974 the NFL adopted sudden death overtime for regular season and preseason games. If the score is tied after regulation time has expired, one additional period is played. Until the 2016 season, the period was 15 minutes in all games. Since 2017, it is 10 minutes for exhibition/regular season games. The captains meet with the officials for a coin toss, and then one side kicks off to the other, as at the start of a game. Under the original regular season format used through 2011, whoever scored first during the extra period won the game. Additionally, during regular season games, fourth quarter timing rules were in effect throughout the period, including a two-minute warning if necessary. In the regular season, if the overtime period is completed without either side scoring, the game ends in a tie.

Because there cannot be a tie in the playoffs, the teams would switch ends of the field and start multiple 15-minute overtime periods until one side scored, and all clock rules were as if a game had started over. Therefore, if a game was still tied with two minutes to go in the second (or fourth) overtime, there would be a two-minute warning (but not during the first overtime period as in the regular season). If it was still tied at the end of the second overtime, the team that lost the overtime coin toss would have the option to kick or receive, or to choose which direction to play; at the end of the fourth overtime, there is a new coin toss, and play continues.[2]

The longest NFL game played to date is 82 minutes, 40 seconds in the 1971–72 NFL playoffs on Christmas Day 1971 (the Chiefs' last-ever game at Municipal Stadium); Miami kicker Garo Yepremian kicked a 37-yard field goal at 7:40 of the second overtime. The longest game in all modern American professional football is 93 minutes, 33 seconds in a 1984 United States Football League playoff game, also using the true sudden death rule, in which the Los Angeles Express defeated the Michigan Panthers 27–21.

As a consequence of the 1974 rule changes, the number of tie games dropped dramatically. Only 25 NFL games have ended in a tie since then. The most recent was on 8 September 2019 when the Arizona Cardinals & Detroit Lions fought to a 27-all tie, the 12th game to end that way since 1990.

Scoreless ties were common in the early years of the NFL, but none has happened since 1943, in part due to innovations added by Hugh "Shorty" Ray to encourage more scoring.

In March 2010, NFL owners voted to amend overtime rules for postseason games; the changes were extended to the regular season in 2012. The changes preserved sudden death with one notable exception: if the team that receives the opening kickoff scores a field goal, the team that initially kicked off gets one possession to tie or win the game; any other score on the opening possession ends the game immediately. In postseason games, if both teams are still tied after the first overtime, the procedure is repeated until a winner is declared; in regular-season games, if the score is tied after 10 minutes, the game ends. No 2010 postseason game went into overtime, so the first overtime game played after the implementation of this rule came in the wild-card round in 2011. Incidentally, this was also the shortest overtime in NFL history; Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham kicked off and the ball went out of the back of the end zone, resulting in a touchback and no time off the clock. Tim Tebow, then with the Denver Broncos, threw an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play to Demaryius Thomas to give the Broncos the win in only 11 seconds.[3]

The first time the "first possession field goal" rule was enforced occurred on 9 September 2012, the first week of the season, in a game between the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars. Minnesota's Blair Walsh kicked a 38-yard field goal on the Vikings' first drive. When Jacksonville regained possession, they failed to gain a first down, losing possession and the game on a failed fourth-down conversion. The first overtime in which both teams scored occurred on 18 November 2012, in a game between the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars; the Texans won 43–37. The first overtime game that ended in a tie after both teams scored in overtime occurred on 24 November 2013, when the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers played to a 26–all tie. On 5 February 2017, a Super Bowl went into overtime for the first time ever, with the New England Patriots defeating the Atlanta Falcons, 34–28; the Patriots scored a touchdown on their initial possession, so the Falcons never received the ball in overtime.

The Arena Football League and NFL Europe used a variant in which each team is guaranteed one possession. Whoever is leading after one possession won the game; if the teams remain tied after one possession, the game went to sudden death. This procedure was used by the United Football League in its inaugural 2009 season.[4] This included both games of all semifinals series. All overtime periods thereafter were true sudden death periods.

The short-lived World Football League, for its inaugural 1974 season (the same year the NFL established sudden death in the regular season), used a fifteen-minute quarter of extra time, divided into two halves. It was not sudden death.

The New York Pro Football League, a 1910s-era league that eventually had several of its teams join the NFL, used the replay to settle ties in its playoff tournament. The replay was used in the 1919 tournament to decide the championship between the Buffalo Prospects and the Rochester Jeffersons. The teams had played to a tie on Thanksgiving; Buffalo won the replay 20–0 to win the championship.

In college (since the 1996 season) and high school football, as well as the Canadian Football League (since the 1986 season) and the short-lived Alliance of American Football, an overtime procedure is used to determine the winner. This method is sometimes referred to as a "Kansas Playoff", or "Kansas Plan" because of its origins for high school football in that state.[5] A brief summary of the rules:

• A coin toss determines which side shall attempt to score first, and at which end zone the scores shall be attempted.
• Each team in turn will receive one possession (similar to innings in baseball), starting with first-and-10 from a fixed point on the opponent's side of the field:
  • In college football, as of the 2019 season, the first possession of overtime begins at the opponent's 25-yard line, and if necessary, the next three possessions for each team also start at this same point. After four overtime procedures, all possessions thereafter will be a two-point conversion attempt taken from the 3-yard line, the standard starting point for that play under NCAA rules. Before the 2019 season, the opponent's 25 was used as the starting point for all overtime procedures.
  • Under standard high school football rules, the possession begins at the 10-yard line. However, the high school rulebook only recommends the overtime procedure and allows state associations to use their own; the 15-, 20-, and 25-yard lines are variously used. The AAF also used the 10-yard-line as its starting point.
  • In the CFL, where a single point can be scored on a punt, the possession begins at the 35-yard line.
• The play clock runs as normal. There is no game clock, and all play is otherwise untimed.
• A team's possession ends when it (or the defense) scores, misses a field goal, or turns over the ball (either on downs or by the defense otherwise gaining possession).
• In high school, college and the CFL, a field goal can be kicked at any time. Thus, if the first team fails to score, the opponent, already usually in field goal range, can end the game by kicking one (in the CFL, as previously noted, one can do the same with a single). In the AAF, no field goals were allowed at any time during the playoff.
• As usual, a touchdown by the offense is followed by a try for one or two points. In NCAA football, starting with triple overtime, teams must attempt a two-point conversion after a touchdown, and from 2019, all overtime procedures beyond the fourth consist of two-point conversion attempts and are scored as such. Since 2010, CFL teams must also attempt the two-point conversion after any touchdown in overtime. The AAF required two-point conversions after any touchdown.
• In college football, the defense may score a touchdown on a play on which it gains possession by turnover; such a play will satisfy the condition of each team having a possession and will therefore end the game. In high school football, the defense is generally not allowed to score if it gains possession, although the Oregon School Activities Association adopted the college rule experimentally in 2005, and the two main high school governing bodies in Texas, the University Interscholastic League and Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, use NCAA football rules (as did Massachusetts through the 2018 season, after which it adopted standard high school rules). If scoring is not allowed or the turnover play does not end with a score, regardless of the eventual position of the ball at the end of the play, the team assumes offense and will begin their procedure from the specified position on the field.
• Each team receives one charged time-out per offensive or defensive series (except in the CFL).
• If the score remains tied at the end of the first overtime period, the procedure is repeated. The team with the second possession in one overtime will have the first possession in the next overtime.
• In the CFL, there is a limit of two overtime procedures in regular-season games, and if the scores are still level, the game is a tie, but in playoff games, overtime periods are continued until a winner is determined. The AAF did the same, except that regular-season games ended after only one overtime procedure, regardless of the score. (The AAF folded before it ever played any playoff games.)
• In American college and high school football, the overtime periods are continued until a winner is determined.
• All points scored in overtime count as if they were scored in regulation. (This is in contrast to the analogous penalty shootout used in other sports, where shootout points are counted separately and only one point is awarded to the winner; however, this procedure is like extra innings in baseball.)

On two occasions, just two plays were required to determine an overtime winner in an NCAA football game: on 26 September 2002, when Louisville defeated Florida State 26–20 and on 27 September 2003, when Georgia Tech defeated Vanderbilt 24–17.

It is possible for a college game to end after a single play in overtime if the team on defense secures a turnover and returns it for a touchdown: on 9 September 2005, Ohio defeated Pittsburgh 16–10 on an 85-yard interception return by Dion Byrum on the third play of overtime. It is also possible for the defense to get a safety on the first play of overtime (which would also end the game), but this would require the offense to lose 75 yards on the play, which is extremely unlikely (such a scenario is attested in regular play from scrimmage in college football but never in an overtime period).

As of 2016, the Tennessee Volunteers have competed in the most overtime college football games, totalling 19.

The development of this "Kansas System" was implemented in 1970. The original Kansas System had each team start on the 10-yard line. Throughout the state that first year, seventy games went into overtime with one game requiring five overtime periods to determine a winner. After the system was reviewed positively by the majority of state's coaches and administrators, Kansas State High School Activities Association leadership presented the system to the National Federation of State High School Associations, who approved giving state associations the option of using the overtime system for two years. Two years later the overtime system became a permanent option for state associations use.[6]

Another type of overtime system was once used by the California Interscholastic Federation. Known as the "California tiebreaker", it was used in high school football from 1968 through the 1970s and ’80s.[7] The California tiebreaker starts with the ball placed at the 50-yard line, and the teams run four plays each (a coin toss decides who gets to go first), alternating possession at the spot of the ball after every play. If no one manages to score (field goals aren’t allowed), then the team that’s in its opponents’ territory at the conclusion of the eight plays is awarded one point and declared the winner. When the California tiebreaker was finally phased out, it was replaced by the Kansas tiebreaker.

The short-lived XFL used a modified Kansas Playoff, where the series would start on the 20-yard line and have four downs to score. However, if the first team to play overtime scored a touchdown in less than four downs, the second team would have to score in just as many plays (for instance, if the first team scored a touchdown on three downs, the second team would only have three downs to score a touchdown). Neither team could kick a field goal until the fourth down (a rule imposed to prevent teams from turning the overtime period into the equivalent of a penalty shootout). Although such a scenario never happened in the league's short life, the XFL rules did not explain what would happen should a turnover occur and the set of four downs end prematurely. Rather than a coin toss, the winner of the opening scramble at the beginning of the game also got to choose to go first or second in overtime.

The 2020 revival of the XFL, which folded during its first and only season due to fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, used a five-round shootout: teams alternated, one play at a time, attempting to score a two-point conversion on a single play from the five-yard line. The defensive team could not score in overtime; if the offensive team committed a turnover, the play would be ruled dead. If the score remained tied after five rounds, subsequent rounds were played until the tie was broken.[8]

In the sevens variant of rugby union, extra time is used only in knockout stages of competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series and Rugby World Cup Sevens. Extra time begins one minute after the end of full-time, and is played in multiple 5-minute periods. Unlike the 15-man game, extra time in sevens is true sudden-death, with the first score by either team winning the match. If neither team has scored at the end of a period, the teams change ends. This procedure is repeated until one team scores.

• The longest total playing time in an AFL match is 140:49 (four quarters of 20 minutes playing time plus 60:49 of time on) in Round 3, 2016, between North Melbourne and Melbourne. A total of 41.21 (267) was kicked during the game, which North Melbourne won by five points.[27]
• The longest total playing time in the three major leagues (AFL/VFL, SANFL, WAFL) is 141:34 (four quarters of 25 minutes playing time plus 41:34 time on) in Round 17, 1975 of the SANFL season between Glenelg and Central District. There was a three-minute delay during the last quarter after a crowd invasion when Glenelg full-forward Fred Phillis kicked his 100th goal for the season, and Glenelg kicked a record 49.23 (317). The score, the final margin of 238 points and the aggregate of 60.36 (396) are all records as of 2018.[28]

• Six National Football League playoff games have gone into double overtime, the longest being an AFC divisional playoff game on 25 December 1971. The Miami Dolphins defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27–24 at 7:40 into double overtime (at 82:40 of total play, the longest game in NFL history). Garo Yepremian kicked a walk-off field goal to win it. The length of the game, coupled with the fact that it was played on Christmas Day, led to a great deal of controversy and the league placed an 18-year moratorium on Christmas games.[29] The most recent 2OT NFL game came in an AFC divisional playoff game on 12 January 2013, with the Baltimore Ravens beating the Denver Broncos 38–35 on a field goal at 1:42 of double overtime. Justin Tucker kicked a walk-off field goal to win it.
• In the former American Football League, the championship game played on 23 December 1962, the Dallas Texans defeated the Houston Oilers 20–17 on a 25-yard field goal at 2:54 into double overtime. (This game, along with all other AFL games, was incorporated into the NFL record books following the 1970 merger of the two leagues.)
• The former United States Football League had a triple-overtime playoff game on 30 June 1984, with the Los Angeles Express defeating the Michigan Panthers 27–21 on a walk-off touchdown 3:33 of triple overtime. At 93:33 of total play, this is the longest professional football game ever played in the United States.
• Collegiate (NCAA Division I FBS, formerly Division I-A): Five games have gone to septuple overtime.
  • On 3 November 2001, the Arkansas Razorbacks beat the Ole Miss Rebels 58–56; the game had been tied 17–all at end of regulation.
  • On 1 November 2003, Arkansas beat the Kentucky Wildcats 71–63; the score was tied 24–all at end of regulation.
  • On 7 October 2006, North Texas beat FIU 25–22 in a game that had been tied 16-all at end of regulation.
  • On 17 October 2017, Western Michigan beat Buffalo 71–68 in a game that had been tied 31–all at end of regulation.
  • On 24 November 2018, Texas A&M beat LSU 74–72 in a game that had been tied 31–all at end of regulation. This game directly led to the NCAA's 2019 change in overtime rules that calls for all overtime procedures after the fourth to be played (and scored) as two-point conversion attempts, also adopted for Texas high schools because that state's high school governing bodies base their rules on the NCAA set.
• Collegiate (NCAA Division I FCS, formerly Division I-AA) – 27 September 1998: Bethune-Cookman University recorded a 63–57 victory over Virginia State University, ending in octuple overtime.
• High school – 29 October 2010: Jacksonville High School (TX) beat Nacogdoches High School (TX) 84-81 after dodectuple overtime. Nacogdoches could have won in earlier overtime periods, but needed a win by 8 points to keep its postseason hopes alive and so they intentionally forced additional overtime periods rather than win by fewer than 8 points.

• In the past, some football competitions also allowed successive extra times, before the use of penalty shootouts. The decision of the Campeonato Pernambucano de Futebol de 1977, which ended with the victory of Sport on Náutico during the fourth extra time of 15 minutes each, resulting in a game of 158 minutes duration.
• The 1922 Final for the German Championship between Hamburger SV and 1.FC Nürnberg had to be broken off after 189 minutes at 2-2 because the coming dusk made play impossible. The rematch seven weeks later was also broken off in overtime at a standing of 1-1 due to Nürnberg being unable to field more than seven players (with the rules of the time substitutions were not allowed[30]).
• The 1982 and 1985 NCAA Division I men's soccer finals both went to the 8th (10-minute) period of extra time before being decided, lasting into the 160th and 167th minutes respectively.[31][32]
• In Game 1 of the 1971 North American Soccer League playoffs semifinal (best of three series) between the Dallas Tornado and the Rochester Lancers, league scoring champion Carlos Metidieri of Rochester mercifully ended the match in the 6th overtime at the 176th minute, less than four minutes shy of playing two complete games. Seven days later in Game 3, the two teams also played a 4-OT, 148 minute match with Dallas winning this time. Incredibly, only four days after that, Dallas lost Game 1 of the NASL Championship Series in the 3rd OT to Atlanta in the 123rd minute. All totaled, Dallas played 537 minutes of football (3 minutes short of six games) in 13 days' time.[33]

• MLB – American League – 8 May 1984: Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7–6 in 25 innings. The game took 8 hours and 6 minutes to decide; play was suspended after 17 innings with the score tied 3-3 and resumed the next night. Harold Baines hit a walk-off home run to win it.
• MLB – National League – 1 May 1920: Game between the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves ended in a 1–1 tie after 26 innings.
• MLB – NL – 3 June 1989: Timewise, the Houston Astros beat the L.A. Dodgers 5–4 in 22 innings as Rafael Ramírez hit a walk-off single off Jeff Hamilton to end the 7-hour, 14-minute contest. Bill Doran scored the winning run & Fernando Valenzuela was playing first baseman that night.
• MLB Playoffs – 26 October 2018: Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Boston Red Sox 3–2 in 18 innings as Max Muncy hit a walk-off solo shot off Nathan Eovaldi to end the 7-hour, 20-minute contest.
• Minor league – International League – 18 April 1981: In the longest professional baseball game ever played with 8 hours and 25 minutes of playing time, the Pawtucket Red Sox defeated the Rochester Red Wings 3–2 in 33 innings. The game was suspended at the end of the 32nd inning at 4:09 AM local time and resumed one month later. The decisive 33rd inning took just 18 minutes to play.
• Collegiate – 30 May 2009: The Texas Longhorns defeated the Boston College Eagles 3–2 in 25 innings in the Austin regional of the 2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship tournament.

• International basketball:
  • Summer Olympics: Six games needed two overtimes to finish, four of them in the men's tournament and two in the women's tournament:
    • 2016 men: Argentina defeated Brazil 111–107
    • 2000 men: Canada defeated Russia 86–83
    • 1996 women: Turkey defeated Brazil 79–76
    • 1996 men: Lithuania defeated Croatia 83–81
    • 1996 men: Australia defeated Brazil 109–101
    • 1992 women: Spain defeated Italy 92–80
  • FIBA Basketball World Cup: In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, Germany defeated Angola 108–103 after triple overtime.
  • FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup: In the 1953 FIBA World Championship for Women, Paraguay defeated Cuba 69–59 after double overtime.
  • FIBA men's continental championships: In EuroBasket 1953, Yugoslavia defeated Israel 57–55 after four overtimes.
  • FIBA women's continental championships: These games needed two overtime periods to finish:
    • AfroBasket Women 2017: Tunisia def. Ivory Coast 69–94
    • 2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Women: South Korea def. China 99–93
    • EuroBasket Women 2011: Latvia def. Israel 83–82
    • EuroBasket Women 2005: Belarus def. Norway 84–78
    • 2004 FIBA Asia Championship for Women: Japan def. South Korea 82–71
    • EuroBasket Women 1995: Hungary def. Spain 108–105
    • EuroBasket Women 1980: Netherlands def. Bulgaria 83–81
• NBA – 6 January 1951: The Indianapolis Olympians and the Rochester Royals played six overtimes, with Indianapolis winning 75–73 in a four-hour game.
• US Collegiate
  • NCAA Division I – 21 December 1981: Cincinnati edged Bradley 75–73 in seven overtimes.
  • NCAA Division II – 18 February 1956: Black Hills edged Yankton (a college which no longer exists) 80–79 after seven extra periods.
  • NCAA Division III – 24 November 2010: Skidmore edged Southern Vermont 128–123, also in seven overtimes.
• US, High School
  • North Carolina – 29 February 1964: Boone Trail won over Angier 56–54, after 13 overtimes in the Harnett County 1A Conference Tournament championship at the Carter Gymnasium, Buies Creek.[34]
  • Indiana – 15 March 1964: Swayzee won over Liberty Center 65–61, after a state record 9 overtimes in a regional tournament game in Marion.

• "Extra extra time" was played in the 2015 Ashbourne Cup final.[35]

• A semi-final of the 2014 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship went to 30 minutes of extra time. After Down and Derry finished level (3-23 to 4-20) after the usual 20 minutes (two periods of 10 minutes' duration) of extra time, it was agreed by both teams to play another ten minutes of extra time (two periods of 5 minutes). After this, the game was still tied: 3–28 to 5-22 after 100 minutes' play.[36]

• Olympics — At the 2018 Winter Games, the USA defeated Canada 3–2 in a shootout in the women's final after both teams went the entire 20-minute overtime period scoreless; Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored in the 6th shootout round. The men's final at the same Olympics also went into overtime; Kirill Kaprizov, playing for the Olympic Athletes from Russia, scored at 9:40 of overtime, resulting in a 4–3 win over Germany. The overtime procedure for gold-medal games is multiple 20-minute 3-on-3 periods until one team scores come 2022.
• GET-ligaen (premier Norwegian ice hockey league) - 12 March 2017: Storhamar beat Sparta 2–1 in octuple overtime after Joakim Jensen scored the game winner at 17:14 of the 8th overtime period, for a total of 157:14 of overtime and a game length of 217:14.[37]
• NHL – 23 March 1936: The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Maroons 1–0 in sextuple overtime and after a total of 116:30 minutes had been played in overtime.[22]
• Collegiate (NCAA Division I, men's) – 6 March 2015: In a Hockey East men's first round, UMass beat Notre Dame 4–3 in quintuple overtime, after 151:42 minutes of play. Yale University @ Union College & Quinnipiac University @ Union College also extended 5 overtimes.
• Collegiate (NCAA Division I, women's) – February 22, 2020: In a New England Women's Hockey Alliance tournament semifinal, Saint Anselm defeated Franklin Pierce 2–1 at 12:36 of the 5th overtime (152:36 overall time).[38]
• High School (Ohio High School Athletic Association)- The 2014 state championship game between Sylvania Northview (OH) and Cleveland St. Ignatius (OH) ended in a 1–1 tie after 7th (8 minute) overtime period by mutual agreement, mostly due to concerns over player safety.[39] In response, all tournaments since 2015 allow a limit of five overtime periods, with 4-on-4 play starting on the 2nd overtime period, and a 3-player shootout commencing after all periods were played.[40] In terms of number of periods, the 1977 North Dakota state high school hockey championship game between Grand Forks Central and Grand Forks Red River, tied 1-1 after regulation, went eight scoreless five-minute overtime periods. Officials, citing player safety concerns, stopped play after the eighth overtime and declared the teams co-champions.[41]

• Collegiate (NCAA Division I, men's) – 28 March 2009: The Virginia Cavaliers team played in the longest game in the history of NCAA Division I lacrosse—a 10–9 victory over the Maryland Terrapins in seven overtime periods.

The longest rugby league game at first class level is 104 minutes, during the 1997 Super League Tri-series final between NSW and QLD. Normal game time is 80 minutes, but with scores level a further 20 minutes was played. When the scores remained level after 100 minutes, golden point extra time was invoked, a Noel Goldthorpe field goal decided the game after 104 minutes.[42] At a lower level, the 2015 Group 21 grand final lasted 128 minutes[43]

The Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships was a first round Men's Singles match, in which the American 23rd seed John Isner played French qualifier Nicolas Mahut. In total, the match took 11 hours, 5 minutes of play over three days, with a final score of 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7), 7–6(3), 70–68 for a total of 183 games. It remains by far the longest match in tennis history, measured both by time and number of games. The final set alone was longer than the previous longest match.[44]

The official longest tie-break on record, 50 points, came in the first round of Wimbledon in 1985 when Michael Mortensen and Jan Gunnarson defeated John Frawley and Victor Pecci 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 7-6 (24). Of note is an even longer tie-break of 70 points, with Benjamin Balleret defeating Guillaume Couillard 7-6 (34), 6–1. The match, held in Plantation, FL in 2013, was only a qualifying match in a Futures event, the lowest level tournament in pro tennis. All matches in qualifying are played without any chair umpire or any lines people. Without any official scorecard, this record is not official.[45]

Since 2019, all 5th-set tiebreakers for men's (3rd-set for women's) are broken using the "super tiebreaker", with the first to reach 10 points winning the match; this began with the Australian Open. If the tiebreaker game deciding the match is tied at 9–all, whoever scores two straight points wins. At Wimbledon, when the deciding set is tied at 12–all, 7 points or two straight points after a 6–all tie wins. The U.S. Open & Olympics employs this at 6–all in deciding set. It would not apply to the French Open.