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How big is an American football field?

American football field · NFL regulation field and goal posts (2026 Official Playing Rules)

Length including end zones
110 m 360 ft
Field of play (goal line to goal line)
91.4 m 300 ft
Width
48.8 m 160 ft
End zone depth
9.14 m 10 yd
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Human, Basketball court (NBA), Boeing 737, American football field drawn to the same scaleHuman: height 1.61–1.75 m. Basketball court (NBA): length 28.7 m. Boeing 737: length 39.47 m. American football field: length including end zones 110 m.Human: 1.61–1.75 mBasketball court (NBA): 28.7 mBoeing 737: 39.47 mAmerican football field: 110 mAmerican football field110 mBoeing 73739.47 mBasketball court (NBA)28.7 mHuman1.61–1.75 m
Everything is drawn to the same scale, standing on the same ground line. Silhouettes are simplified outlines scaled to the measured dimension. A faded outline shows the top of a size range.

Compare American football field with something else →

Zoom out from an average adult to an American football field

An American football field is too big to show next to an average adult in one picture, so here it is in 2 steps. Each step is drawn to its own scale and zooms out from the step before.

  1. Step 1 of 2 Human → Megalodon

    A megalodon is about 8.6–15 times as long as an average adult is tall.

    Human, Megalodon drawn to the same scaleHuman: height 1.61–1.75 m. Megalodon: maximum length (estimates) 15–24.3 m.Human: 1.61–1.75 mMegalodon: 15–24.3 mMegalodon15–24.3 mHuman1.61–1.75 m
    Step 1: Human and Megalodon at the same scale.

  2. Step 2 of 2 Megalodon → American football field

    An American football field is about 4.5–7.3 times as long as a megalodon.

    Megalodon, American football field drawn to the same scaleMegalodon: maximum length (estimates) 15–24.3 m. American football field: length including end zones 110 m.Megalodon: 15–24.3 mAmerican football field: 110 mAmerican football field110 mMegalodon15–24.3 m
    Step 2: Megalodon and American football field at the same scale.

Dimensions

MeasurementMetricImperialNotesSource
Length including end zones 110 m 360 ft End line to end line, including both end zones (equal to 120 yd) [1]
Field of play (goal line to goal line) 91.4 m 300 ft Goal line to goal line, excluding end zones (equal to 100 yd); dimension label on the rulebook's field diagram [1]
Width 48.8 m 160 ft Sideline to sideline (equal to 53 1/3 yd) [1]
End zone depth 9.14 m 10 yd Distance from each goal line to its end line [1]
Crossbar height 3.05 m 10 ft Ground to the top face of the crossbar [1]
Upright height above crossbar 10.7 m 35 ft How far the uprights extend above the crossbar (not measured from the ground) [1]

About the American football field

An NFL field is a rectangle 360 feet long and 160 feet wide. A 10-yard end zone at each end leaves 300 feet of field of play between the goal lines. The crossbar at each end sits over the end line, 10 feet above the ground, on a single-post goal set back behind it, and the uprights rise another 35 feet above the crossbar.

  • The crossbar is 18 feet 6 inches long, and the uprights are 3 to 4 inches in diameter. [1]
  • NFL goal posts are the single-standard type, bright gold, offset from the end line, and have a 4-by-42-inch orange ribbon attached to the top of each upright. [1]
  • The inbounds lines (hash marks) are 70 feet 9 inches in from each sideline. [1]
  • The web version of the NFL rulebook on the league's Football Operations site gives the same 360 ft by 160 ft field and the same goal-post dimensions. [2]

How many fit?

  • ≈ 65 × Human · height lined up end to end match the American football field · length including end zones
  • ≈ 2.2 × Olympic swimming pool · length lined up end to end match the American football field · length including end zones

Counts divide one sourced figure by another. "End to end" uses each object's main measurement; weight and volume rows appear only when both figures are sourced.

How it compares

  • 65× An American football field is about 65 times as long as an average adult is tall. See side by side
  • 2.2× An American football field is about 2.2 times as long as an Olympic swimming pool. See side by side
  • 1.5× An American football field is about 1.5 times as long as a Boeing 747. See side by side
  • 1/1 An American football field is about as long as the Saturn V is tall. See side by side
  • 1/1.7 The Gateway Arch is about 1.7 times as tall as an American football field is long. See side by side
  • 1/2.5 The Titanic is about 2.5 times as long as an American football field. See side by side

Factors compare the length including end zones of an American football field with each object’s own main measurement (height for a human). Where a size varies, the factor is given as a range.

Notes on these figures

  • The rulebook gives the overall length and width in feet (360 ft by 160 ft), not in yards; 120 yd and 53 1/3 yd are the same values converted.
  • The 300 ft field-of-play length comes from the dimension labels on the rulebook's field diagram. The rule text itself sets the goal lines 10 yards in from each end line.
  • Both sources are published by the NFL, the body that sets these dimensions, so there is no more authoritative independent source to check against.

Sources

  1. National Football League, 2026 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League (Rule 1: The Field). Accessed 24 September 2026.
  2. National Football League (NFL Football Operations), NFL Rulebook (web version), Rule 1: The Field. Accessed 24 September 2026.

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