Figures I heard over the weekend; the US Superbowl on TV comprises 60 minutes of 'football' and 47 minutes of advertising. I was thinking, what a relief that the Yanks have never taken to real football, the world game. But reading here, I learn that our game's unsuitability to commercial break overkill is the main reason vested interests have shut it out.
I remember hearing that, when football (non-American) was first broadcast on US TV (early seventies?), the players were under orders to kick the ball into touch every five minutes or so, so the station could slip in a quick commercial. That must have been compulsive viewing.