- Average top-flight game is now 5m 17s longer than matches in 2017/18
- Teams now playing 214 extra minutes of football across a league campaign
- Spurs will play ‘two more’ games than West Ham this season, if stoppage time rates continue
Premier League teams are each playing an extra two and a half games per season, thanks to excessive amounts of stoppage time now being added to the end of top-flight games.
The research by MyBettingSites.co.uk analysed the length of Premier League matches over the last 10 seasons, finding that the average fixture length is now 5 minutes 17 seconds longer than during the 2017/18 season – a time before VAR.
Across a 38-game league campaign, sides will therefore play an extra 214 minutes on average, equating to 2.4 whole games more than six years ago.
This season, Premier League officials have added an average of 11 minutes 39 seconds across both halves’ stoppage time, meaning games are now lasting over 101 minutes in total. This is in stark contrast to the typical added time of 6 minutes 22 seconds back in 2017/18.
Increases to match length since the 2017/18 season:
The directive to increase time added on means this jump is even noticeable compared to last season, where a referee would typically allow for 98 minutes 27 seconds of action.
But not all teams are experiencing the same match lengths this year. On average, Tottenham’s games have included 13 minutes 37 seconds of stoppage time between both halves (the most in the division), compared to 10 minutes 19 seconds for fixtures featuring West Ham.
Longest average stoppage time per Premier League game this season:
If this disparity continues for the remainder of the league campaign, this would mean Spurs players will have played more than two whole matches more than the Hammers, who will be saving legs the most.
Shortest average stoppage time per Premier League game this season:
Commenting on the findings, a MyBettingSites UK spokesperson said: “We all know about the recent directives to referees to be adding on more time to the end of matches, and with VAR playing such a prominent role in games, the amount of stoppage time is increasing sharply.
“This means players are now having to work hard – both physically and mentally – for longer periods each matchday and this really adds up over the course of a season. Our findings show there is now an extra two and a half games’ worth of football being played by teams, and that is likely to take its toll on people’s legs.”
Average match length per season:
| Season | Average match length |
| 2017/18 | 96:22 |
| 2018/19 | 96:40 |
| 2019/20 | 97:32 |
| 2020/21 | 96:34 |
| 2021/22 | 97:29 |
| 2022/23 | 98:27 |
| 2023/24 | 101:39 |
