Why it's okay for NBA games to be longer this season

Professional sports are all beginning to debate the length of an average game. Nowadays they aim to please a younger and broader audience. The money that shorter games make for most sports is quantifiably much more than the longer formats. Despite all this, the NBA is moving in the opposite direction. The games are longer than ever and somehow the world is just okay with that.

Obviously, this change has been made for a reason. The NBA is okay with this because they want to pay more attention to what has been termed game flow. For them increasing time is okay as it will increase quality and that's what is most important.

On an average, games without overtime are just around 2 minutes longer than last year and if games with over time are factored in, then games are almost three minutes longer on an average. These kinds of numbers have come from many factors, one of which is the enforcement of the freedom of motion rules. The new rules have led to more fouls being called per game this season.

However, despite the confusion, the NBA is appeased with all these new changes following the changes they have made to help improve game flow before the current (2018-19) season and seem to be quite satisfied with these as well. The only difference is that most of the previous changes, such as time taken to bring the ball back into play after a foul and shortening TV timeouts, all shortened game play.

In essence, the NBA was 100% sure that the new rules would lead to a lot more fouls and they wanted to build the game to fit into this. The league is looking into using new technology and methods of communication. They believe in continually making the game better and the players happier.

The question however remains, how big of a difference is this really? Do a few minutes really matter that much?