If the Super Bowl is tied after regulation, the game goes to overtime and continues until there is a winner.
Rules
If the Super Bowl is tied after regulation, it goes to overtime.
Overtime format
A 15 minute period. Under current playoff rules, both teams get a possession unless the first scores and the second loses.
Still tied
Overtime continues until a winner is decided.
History
Super Bowl LVIII (February 2024) was the first to go to overtime. The Chiefs beat the 49ers 25 to 22.
Regular season
Ties are possible after 10 minutes.
Overtime rules
If an NFL game is tied at the end of regulation, overtime is played. In the regular season, overtime is a single 10-minute period with sudden-death modified rules, where a touchdown on the first possession ends the game, but a field goal lets the other team respond. If tied after 10 minutes, the game ends in a tie.
- In the postseason, including the Super Bowl, teams play full 15-minute periods until a winner is determined, with no ties. Since 2022, both teams get at least one possession in playoff overtime, even if the first team scores a touchdown.
- Super Bowl LVIII (February 2024) was the first Super Bowl to go to overtime, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25 to 22.
- A coin toss decides who receives first.
Context
The NFL changed regular-season overtime to a similar rule in 2025, giving both teams a possession. Ties in the regular season occur occasionally, such as the 2022 Colts vs Texans game. Playoff games continue to a winner, even if that requires multiple overtime periods. The longest NFL game was a 1971 Chiefs vs Dolphins playoff game, which lasted 82 minutes 40 seconds.
Overtime rules
In the NFL regular season, overtime lasts 10 minutes and games can end in a tie. In the postseason, including the Super Bowl, overtime periods are played until there is a winner, 15 minutes each, with both teams getting a possession under the rule adopted in 2022.
Context
No Super Bowl has gone to overtime until Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024, won by Kansas City 25 to 22 over San Francisco.
NFL overtime rules
The NFL does not end the game in a tie in the playoffs. In the postseason, if the score is tied after regulation, teams play 15 minute overtime periods until one wins, and both teams get a possession since 2022, unless the first team scores a touchdown and the other fails. This applies to the Super Bowl.
Regular season difference
In the regular season, overtime is 10 minutes (as of recent rule changes), and a tie can still happen if the score is level at the end. The Super Bowl has never gone to overtime until Super Bowl LVIII in 2024, when the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25 to 22. The game continues until there is a winner, with a coin toss to decide first possession, and the teams switch ends of the field per quarter. Check league rules for the current season.
Based on data from the National Football League rulebook and ESPN
