The NBA shot clock gives a team 24 seconds to get a shot off. The NFL play clock usually gives the offense 40 seconds to snap the ball, and MLB’s pitch clock, officially the pitch timer, gives the pitcher 15 seconds with the bases empty or 18 with runners on to start the delivery. Miss the deadline and the price differs: a shot-clock violation costs possession, a delay of game costs five yards, and a pitch-clock violation adds an automatic ball or strike. Tennis and soccer run their own countdowns too, with their own penalties.
The clocks side by side
The table lists the main limit in each sport, what has to happen in time and what the rules say happens when it does not.
| Sport | Required action | Limit | If time runs out |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBA basketball | Release a shot before zero; it must then touch the rim or go in | 24 seconds; 14 after the offense recovers a miss that hit the rim | Shot clock violation: the opponents inbound from the sideline |
| NFL football | Put the ball in play with the snap | 40 seconds after a play ends; 25 after certain administrative stoppages | Delay of game: 5-yard penalty |
| MLB baseball | Pitcher starts the delivery; batter is in the box and alert by the 8-second mark | 15 seconds with the bases empty, 18 with runners on; 30 seconds between batters | Pitcher: automatic ball. Batter: automatic strike |
| Professional tennis | Strike the first serve of the next point | 25 seconds between points; 90 at a change of ends; 120 at a set break | Warning first; later a fault for the server or a lost point for the receiver (WTA rules). Back-to-back delays become a code violation |
| Soccer, goalkeeper | Inside the penalty area, release a ball controlled with the hands | 8 seconds; the referee counts the last 5 with a raised hand | Corner kick to the opponents |
| Soccer, restarts | Take a delayed throw-in or goal kick | 5-second countdown started by the referee | The throw-in goes to the opponents; a delayed goal kick becomes a corner kick |
Rule references: NBA Rule 7; NFL Rule 4, Section 6; MLB’s pitch timer rules; ITF Rules of Tennis, Rule 29, and the WTA Rulebook; IFAB Laws of the Game 12.3, 15.2 and 16.2. Under the WTA rules, a change of ends during a televised match can last 120 seconds.
None of these is a game clock. In basketball and football, the game clock shows the time left in the period, while the shot clock or play clock sets a deadline for the next action.
Some clocks run during play, others time the gap before the next action
The NBA shot clock runs during an attacking possession rather than between plays. The shot must leave the shooter’s hand before the clock expires and then touch the rim or go in. A missed shot that never touches the rim does not reset the clock.
The NFL, MLB and tennis clocks time the interval before the next snap, pitch or point. The NFL’s 40 seconds start when the previous play ends, so the time officials need to spot the ball comes out of that allowance. MLB gives the pitcher 15 seconds with the bases empty and 18 with runners on to begin the delivery, plus 30 seconds between batters. Tennis allows 25 seconds from the moment a point ends to the moment the first serve of the next point is struck.
Soccer uses both models. The goalkeeper’s eight seconds run while the ball is in play, starting when the referee judges that the goalkeeper has control with the hands, and only the last five are shown with a raised hand. The five-second countdowns for delayed throw-ins and goal kicks apply while the ball is out of play, and they start only when the referee decides a team is delaying the restart. Our guide to the goalkeeper eight-second rule covers the first count in more detail.
That split is why the numbers are not directly comparable. The NBA’s 24 seconds cover a whole attacking possession up to the shot, while MLB’s 15 seconds cover the gap before one pitch, so a bigger number does not mean a more relaxed rule.
Resets and exceptions that confuse viewers
NBA
A change of possession normally brings a fresh 24 seconds. When the offense recovers its own missed shot, or a missed free throw that stays in play, after the ball has touched the rim, the clock resets to 14 instead. If a defender knocks the ball out of bounds, the offense usually keeps only the time that was left, but in the sequence right after a miss that touched the rim it gets 14 seconds.
For an ordinary defensive personal foul followed by a frontcourt inbound, the clock keeps the remaining time or resets to 14 seconds, whichever is greater. A defensive loose-ball foul right after a miss that hit the rim resets it to 14 if the offense then inbounds in the frontcourt, or to 24 if it inbounds in the backcourt. Flagrant and punching fouls reset it to 24.
In the last 24 seconds of a period, the shot clock is switched off after a change of possession, although it comes back on at 14 seconds in the offensive-rebound situations above. Once the display reaches 4.9 seconds, it starts showing tenths. Defenders face a separate count of their own, explained in our defensive three-seconds guide.
NFL
After certain administrative stoppages, the offense gets 25 seconds that start with the referee’s whistle instead of 40 seconds from the end of the play. The rulebook names a change of possession, a charged team timeout, the two-minute warning, the end of a period and a penalty enforcement among those stoppages.
The 25-second interval applies even when the 40-second clock is already running, unless another rule requires otherwise. The game clock follows separate rules, which our NFL clock management guide explains.
MLB
With runners on base, the timer resets when the pitcher attempts a pickoff or steps off the rubber. The first two of these disengagements in a plate appearance carry no disengagement penalty. A third pickoff attempt is allowed, but if it fails, it is ruled a balk and the runner advances one base. The limit resets if a runner advances during the plate appearance, and mound visits, injury timeouts and the offense’s timeouts do not count. Umpires may allow extra time in special circumstances; MLB’s own example is a catcher who made the final out on the bases and needs time to put his gear back on.
Tennis
The 25 seconds lead to the first serve only. Under the ITF rules, if the first serve is a fault, the server serves again without delay, so the second serve does not get a fresh clock. Players also change ends without a rest after the first game of each set and during a tie-break.
Soccer
The goalkeeper’s count covers holding the ball in an outstretched open hand, bouncing it on the ground or throwing it in the air, and no opponent may challenge the goalkeeper during that time. On a delayed throw-in or goal kick, the referee whistles, signals for the restart and counts five seconds with a raised hand. A player who is already throwing or kicking when the count ends is not penalised. For the delay itself, a caution applies only if the player or a team-mate then excessively delays the restart that has been given to the opponents. These countdowns are part of the current edition of the Laws of the Game, in force since 1 July 2026.
What each penalty costs in practice
The sanctions are hard to rank, because their cost depends on the moment. Basketball takes away the attacking possession. Football normally moves the offense back five yards, the same distance as a false start, or half the distance to the goal line when the ball is close to the offense’s own end zone. Baseball changes the count, and soccer gives the opponents a restart.
A baseball timer violation counts as a real ball or strike. On a three-ball count, a pitcher’s violation is ball four. With two strikes, a batter’s violation is strike three.
That is how a spring training game between the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox ended on February 25, 2023, the first full day of exhibition games played with the timer. With the bases loaded, two outs and a full count in the bottom of the ninth, plate umpire John Libka ruled that Braves infielder Cal Conley was not alert to the pitcher by the 8-second mark.
The automatic strike was strike three, and because the teams had not planned to play extra innings, the game finished as a 6-6 tie. An ordinary timer violation adds the ball or strike automatically, without any need to show that the player meant to stall. Umpires may give extra time only when special circumstances warrant it.
Soccer’s price can be bigger than it looks. A delayed throw-in simply changes hands, but an over-held ball or a delayed goal kick becomes a corner kick, an attacking set piece next to the offending team’s own goal.
Tennis escalates instead of charging the full price at once. Under the WTA rules, the first time violation brings a warning; later ones cost a late server a fault and a late receiver the point. A player cannot receive back-to-back time violations, though: consecutive delays are penalised as a delay-of-game code violation instead, with exceptions for players returning late from certain breaks.
How to follow each clock on your next broadcast
- NBA: after a miss, check whether the ball touched the rim. Rim contact followed by an offensive rebound means 14 seconds; an air ball that the offense recovers means no reset.
- NFL: ask how the last play ended. A normal play means 40 seconds from the end of the play; a charged timeout, a penalty enforcement or a change of possession usually means 25 seconds from the referee’s whistle.
- MLB: note whether a runner is on base, which decides between 15 and 18 seconds, and count the pitcher’s disengagements. After two, a failed third pickoff attempt costs a base unless the limit has reset because a runner advanced.
- Tennis: start counting when the previous point ends, not when the server picks up the ball. The second serve gets no new clock.
- Soccer: watch the referee’s raised hand. During a goalkeeper’s hold it shows the last five of eight seconds; on a delayed throw-in or goal kick it shows the whole five-second countdown.
The quickest way to tell which rule applies is to ask what the clock is protecting: a live possession, the pause before the next play, or a restart the referee believes is being delayed.