Sudden Death (association Football)

In a sport or game, sudden death (also sudden-death, sudden-death overtime, or a sudden-death round) is a form of competition where play ends as soon as one competitor is ahead of the others, with that competitor becoming the winner. Sudden death is typically used as a tiebreaker when a contest is tied at the end of regulation (normal) playing time or the completion of the normal playing task.

An alternative tiebreaker method to sudden death is to play an extra, shortened segment of the game. In association football 30 minutes of extra time (overtime) after 90 minutes of normal time, or in golf one playoff round (18 holes) after four standard rounds (72 holes) are two alternatives. Sudden death playoffs typically end more quickly than the shortened play alternative. Reducing the variability of the event's duration assists those scheduling television time and team travel. Fans may see sudden death as exciting and suspenseful, or they may view the format as compromising the sport, compared to play during regulation time. For example, prior to 2012, the National Football League (American football) used a sudden-death rule that encouraged the team possessing the ball to just kick a field goal to end the game rather than striving to score a touchdown.

Sudden death yields a victor for the contest without requiring a specific period of time. It may be called "next score wins" or similar, although in some games, the winner may result from penalizing the other competitor for a mistake. Sudden death has been called sudden victory to avoid the mention of death and serious disease, particularly in sports with a high risk of physical injury. This euphemism became one of announcer Curt Gowdy's idiosyncrasies in 1971 when the AFC divisional championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins went into overtime.

North American professional sports using a sudden death method of settling a tied game include the modified version now employed by the National Football League, the National Hockey League and, also in a modified sense, the PGA Tour (golf). Baseball and cricket use a unique method of tie-breaking that incorporates elements of sudden death. In baseball, a winning run scored by the home team in an extra inning is often referred to as a walk-off, as the players can immediately walk off the field; the equivalent in cricket's Super Over tiebreaker is referred to as the winning team having successfully completed their '' run chase''.

In some goal-scoring games sudden death extra time may be given in which the first goal scored wins. In association football it is called the ''golden goal'', although it was abolished from the Laws of the Game in 2004 by FIFA.

American football

Sudden death has been perceived as a poor fit for gridiron football because the process gives an inherent advantage to the team who starts with possession of the ball: they can end the game immediately by driving a relatively short distance into field goal range and then kicking a field goal, but defensive scores such as the pick-six or the safety are much more rare.

All organized forms of American football abolished pure sudden death for overtime as of the 2011 season. High school football and college football, never used it, instead either allowing ties to stand or using alternatives like the Kansas Playoff.

National Football League

Until 1940, all National Football League games tied at the end of regulation time ended as a tie. Late in the 1940 season, NFL President Carl Storck announced that sudden death periods would be authorized for any playoff game needed to decide either division title. This did not apply to the league championship game, which would crown co-champions in the event of a tie. Commissioner Elmer Layden approved a similar arrangement for the 1941 season, with the same limitation.

Sudden death overtime was approved for the NFL championship game in 1946 and remains in effect. The first playoff game requiring overtime was the 1958 NFL Championship Game.

In 1974, the NFL adopted a 15-minute sudden-death overtime period for regular-season games; in it was cut to 10 minutes. The game ended as a tie if neither team scores in overtime. When a team gets near the end zone, it typically tried to kick a field goal. An overtime game can also be won by scoring a touchdown (in such an event, the extra point is not attempted). This usually happened on a play that began with field position far enough away from the end zone to make a field goal difficult if not impossible, but it can also result from a team choosing not to attempt a field goal until reaching fourth down, even if the team enters an easy field goal range; this strategy only works if the team can maintain possession of the ball and does not fumble the ball away, throw an interception or lose enough yardage to back out of field goal range. Only thrice has an overtime game been won by a safety. In recent years, sportscasters have referred to such scoring plays as "walk-offs," as both teams can walk off the field after the play.

Since the 2010–11 playoffs, in the post-season, each team was allowed at least one possession to score in overtime, unless the team receiving the kickoff scored a touchdown or if the defensive team scored a touchdown or safety on the same possession. True sudden death rules applied if both teams have had their initial possession and the game remains tied. This rule did not actually come into use during the 2010 playoffs, with the first overtime game under the new rules not occurring until 2011, with the Denver Broncos scoring a long touchdown on their first play from scrimmage against the Pittsburgh Steelers. A rule change gives both teams one possession to start first overtime in playoffs, whether or not a touchdown is scored first.

This rule was adopted for the start of the 2012 regular season. It was adopted to counter the criticism that the outcome of overtime games was very frequently decided by the coin toss, as the team which won it usually attempted only enough offensive action to maneuver into field goal range and seldom made a real effort to score a touchdown. In the regular season, games still tied after one full overtime period will continue to be allowed to end in a tie.

No overtime is used in preseason up to and since .

A tied game in regulation did not occur in the Super Bowl until Super Bowl LI (51).

For information on games that have taken a long time under sudden death, see Overtime.

Arena football

In arena football from to , each team was allowed one possession in the first overtime, after which the leading team wins unless the score is still tied, then sudden death rules applied thereafter (a similar, modified sudden death format, with a 10-minute limit, was used in the NFL Europa League). Prior to 2007 the league used extra time, a 7.5-minute extra period; if the game was still tied at this point, it was recorded as a tied game. The modified sudden death rules resulted in a definite conclusion after one overtime period (only one tied game was recorded under each of the two prior overtime rules). From 2007 to 2019, all Arena football games, both regular season and playoff, ended with a winner. Any succeeding overtime periods were true sudden death periods. This included both games of all semifinal series.

Association football

Sudden death has a controversial history in association football. Important matches were traditionally resolved by replaying the entire match, however, in the era of television and tight travel schedules, this is often impracticable. Replays were still used in some major competitions (like the FA Cup until 2020).

In many matches, if the score is tied after the full 90 minutes, a draw results; however, if one team must be eliminated, some form of tie-breaking must occur. Originally, two 15-minute halves of extra time were held, and if the teams remained equal at the end of the halves, kicks from the penalty mark are held.

To try to decrease the chances of requiring kicks from the penalty mark, the IFAB, the world law-making body of the sport, experimented with new rules. The golden goal rule transformed the overtime periods into sudden death until the periods were over, where shootouts would occur. As this became unpopular, the silver goal rule was instituted, causing the game to end if the scores were not equal after the first 15-minute period as well as the second. The silver goal has also fallen into disrepute, so UEFA Euro 2004 was the last event to use it; after which the original tie-breaking methods were restored.

The main criticism of golden goal is the quickness of ending the game, and the pressure on coaches and players. Once a goal is scored, the game is over and the opponent cannot attempt to answer the goal within the remaining time. Therefore, teams would place more emphasis on not conceding a goal rather than scoring a goal, and many golden goal extra time periods remained scoreless.

In NCAA collegiate play in the United States, however, sudden death, adopted in 1997 for all championship play in addition to regular season play, used to remain through 2021. In 2005, the Division II Women's Championship game ended in sudden death as a goal was scored three minutes into the overtime to end the championship match. Sudden death is still prevalent in youth play, for the safety of players.

If the teams are still tied after the initial allocated number in the penalty shoot-out, the game goes to sudden-death penalties, where each team takes a further one penalty each, repeated until only one team scores, resulting in the winning of the game. The first sudden death in a World Cup after the penalty shoot-out ended equal was in dramatic West Germany vs France semi-final in 1982.

Boxing

In amateur boxing, if both scores are equal and no draw option is allowed by the contest regulations, an extra round is appointed; whoever wins that round, scores the plus to one's score, and wins the match by a slight margin.

Badminton

In badminton, if a set is tied at 29–all, golden point is played; whoever scores this point wins it.

Baseball and softball

Baseball and softball are not true sudden-death sports, but they have one comparable situation.

Baseball and softball games cannot end until both teams have had an equal number of turns at bat, unless further play (by the home team if they lead after innings) cannot affect the outcome. In the final scheduled inning (typically, in professional and advanced amateur leagues the ninth inning, but usually the seventh for youth leagues and softball, and the sixth for leagues for subteens such as Little League

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