An American football field is 109.7 meters (120 yards) long, including an end zone at each end, and 48.8 meters (160 feet) wide. The explorer shows the full length, from one end line to the other. The National Football League (NFL) sets these sizes in its rulebook.

Size

The NFL rulebook describes the field as a rectangle 360 feet long and 160 feet wide. Goal lines cross it 10 yards (9.1 meters) in from each end. The 100 yards (91.4 meters) between the goal lines is called the field of play. The two 10-yard areas behind them are the end zones.

All distances are measured from the inside edges of the lines that mark the field's boundary. A solid white border at least 6 feet (1.8 meters) wide runs around the outside. Inside the boundary, the field covers 5,351 square meters (57,600 square feet), about 1.3 acres.

Size comparisons

• The International Space Station is 109 meters (356 feet) wide across its solar arrays, just short of the field's length.
• A Saturn V rocket, 111 meters (363 feet) tall, would be about 1 meter (3 feet) longer than the field if it were laid on its side.
• About 65 people 1.7 meters (5 feet 7 inches) tall, lying head to toe, would stretch from one end line to the other.
• A soccer field for international matches must be 100–110 meters long and 64–75 meters wide. At its longest, it is about as long as a football field, and it is at least 15 meters (50 feet) wider.
• The Eiffel Tower, 330 meters (1,083 feet) tall, is as tall as three football fields are long.

Lines and goalposts

Lines cross the field every 5 yards, and short hash marks show each yard in between. Two rows of hash marks near the middle, 70 feet 9 inches (21.6 meters) in from each sideline, are called the inbounds lines. Most lines are 4 inches (10 centimeters) wide, but each goal line is 8 inches (20 centimeters) wide.

A goalpost stands at the back of each end zone, with its crossbar directly above the end line. The crossbar is 18 feet 6 inches (5.6 meters) long, and its top is 10 feet (3.05 meters) above the ground. Two uprights rise 35 feet (10.7 meters) above it. A kick from the field of play that passes over the crossbar and between the uprights is a field goal, worth 3 points.

Moving down the field

The yard lines matter because progress in the game is counted in yards. A team with the ball gets four tries, called downs, to move it 10 yards (9.1 meters) forward. If it succeeds, it gets four more downs. If it fails, it loses the ball to the other team.

A team scores a touchdown, worth 6 points, when one of its players holds the ball on, above or past the other team's goal line. That includes catching the ball in the end zone.

Sources

• 2026 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League. National Football League, 2026.
• International Space Station Facts and Figures. NASA.
• What Was the Saturn V? (Grades 5-8). NASA, 2010.
• Law 1: The Field of Play. The International Football Association Board.
• From 300 to 330 meters: the story of the Tower's height. Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel.