# football question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 28, 2000, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747 "2000-10-28T17:28:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mongrel\_8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@mongrel\_8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mongrel_8)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/1 "2000-10-28T17:28:41Z")
Is there any difference in size between high school football fields and college or pro fields? I know that they are all supposed to be 100 yards long but when I watch a high school compared to a college game it seems as though the college field is much longer. Perhaps this is optical allusion because the stadium is a lot bigger. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/2 "2000-10-28T17:49:03Z")
It SEEMS to be longer. If it has yardlines, you’ll see that they are spaced the same. The pro fields are usually within stadiums (stadia?) and SEEM to be shorter. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/3 "2000-10-28T18:28:34Z")
In the US, they’re all the same size. 360 feet long and 160 feet wide. When you watch a high school game on TV, the camera is usually much closer to the field and offers a different perspective. They also don’t use a lot of different angles in a high school broadcast. They might 4 cameras there if they’re lucky. Sometimes there is just one. An NFL game has a lot more cameras. ---
**Author:** ![spazo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spazo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spazo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/4 "2000-10-28T19:36:00Z")
Sorry to correct you Bob,a football field 100 yds. or 300 ft.and it is the same from gradeschool-NFL. 🙂 You might be thinking of a soccer field,which is larger than football. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/5 "2000-10-28T19:52:10Z")
He does not need correcting, **Spazo** , he is correct! There are these things on each side called _endzones_. Each endzone is 10yds or 30 ft. So a regulation field is, as he said, 360ft. Don’t think they count? Well then where the hell are you going to put your goal posts?? BTW, in high school we played a game each year in Tampa Stadium. The crown of the field was much more obvious and the turf was much harder, but the length and width was the same. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/6 "2000-10-28T20:34:17Z")
I stand by my answer. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/7 "2000-10-28T20:38:07Z")
As far as I know, football and soccer are played on the same size field. ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/8 "2000-10-28T20:44:59Z")
Correction: football field: 100x53,3333333333333333333333’ (1/3’) soccer field: 120x80’. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/9 "2000-10-28T21:50:02Z")
But an American football field is 120 yards long. It’s 100 yards between the goal lines, but the end zones are part of the field. That’s another 20 yards. If you say the field is 160 feet wide, you don’t have to use any fractions. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2000, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/10 "2000-10-29T03:40:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by peace \* > \*\*Correction: football field: 100x53,3333333333333333333333’ (1/3’) soccer field: 120x80’. \*\* Huh? A soccer field is not strictly fixed by [url=“[http://www.fifa2.com/scripts/runisa.dll?s7.131658:gp:859501:67173+refs/laws/law01](http://www.fifa2.com/scripts/runisa.dll?s7.131658:gp:859501:67173+refs/laws/law01)”]international rules,{/url] it can be as small as 100 yards or as large as 130 yards. It’s width can be 50 yards, or as wide as 100 yards–but the length must be longer than the width. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2000, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/11 "2000-10-29T04:14:41Z")
There is a 6 man version of American football which is played mostly by small town high schools on the Great Plains and in the West. I believe it uses an 80 yard (between the goal lines) field. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2000, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-question/38747/12 "2000-10-29T07:35:18Z")
In California, we have 8-man football. The field is 80 yards between goal lines with 10 yard end zones. Most teams just reconfigure standard size fields and then move the ball up 20 yards for kicks. I suppose that some places may have small fields set aside for the game. However, the schools that play 8-man are usually VERY small. The schools that play it fall into three categories: 1) snooty private prep schools, 2) tiny religious schools, and 3) schools way out in the middle of nowhere (like Big Pine High or Avalon High).