Pac-12 to attempt to shorten games

The Pac-12 will shorten halftime and reduce the number of commercial breaks during its nonconference schedule this season as part of a trial program to reduce the length of its football games.

Halftime will be 15 minutes long, cut from the usual 20-minute break. The number of commercial breaks will be reduced and they will be shorter in length, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said Wednesday at the league’s media days in Los Angeles.

Scott noted that Pac-12 games have averaged nearly 3 hours and 30 minutes.