NFL Vs College Football (5 Massive Differences)

Whether you know or not that NFL and college football are the two most-watched sports in the United States, making football the superior sport by far in popularity, you might have guessed that there are many differences between them. In this article, I will unveil some of the most popular topics between college and NFL football, such as difficulty, popularity, and pro-athlete earning differences.

Without a further due, what’s the difference between professional and college football?

NFL football is more difficult than college football, so the competition is tougher, the earnings are better, and it’s very difficult to reach there. In addition, NFL games get more views than college, and fewer teams are in the league. Also, college games can’t end in a tie, whereas NFL games can.

That said, it seems that the NFL is the more glorious league with a more exclusive roster, money, and glory. This shouldn’t surprise you because, after all, the NFL is the highest football league. This doesen’t mean that college football doesen’t have those things because it’s a close second in sports popularity.

Now, it’s important to understand the rule differences between professional and college football before examining other matters.

Rules

The basic rules and principles apply to both professional (NFL) and college football. However, some differences might confuse you that you should know.

• Receiving rule: In college football, receivers need only one foot within the boundaries for a legally completed pass, whereas both feet need to be within boundaries in the NFL.
• Clock rule: The clock doesen’t stop after the first down in the NFL, unlike in college football.
• Contact rule: The 5-yard contact rule means that the NFL allows defensive backs to make contact with wide receivers at or less than 5 yards, and anything over will result in an illegal contact. However, defensive backs can be more physical with wide and slot receivers.
• Hash Marks: In the NFL, hash marks are 18′ 6″ apart, whereas, in college football, they are 40ft apart.
• Two-minute warning: An automatic time-out when two minutes remain in each half is used in the NFL, yet not in college football matches.
• Overtime rule: In the NFL, football games can end in a tie with the exception that it’s a playoff. However, college football will continue for as long as there is a winner.

The rules above are the most notable differences between professional and college football. Other rule differences exist, but they aren’t as significant.

From the rules alone, you can see that the NFL is a less forgiving and tougher place to play football than college.

Difficulty

It isn’t hard to figure out which league is tougher to play in when it comes to difficulty. Naturally, the professional league is more difficult than the college league; however, it isn’t so easily determined just how much more.

Generally, one out of 20 high school players will make it to the collegiate level. However, approximately one out of 50 college players will advance to the NFL, and still, it isn’t guaranteed they will thrive there. Thus, the NFL is astronomically more difficult to play in than college football.

Considering how difficult and wide the difficulty gap sounds, in reality, it’s even more difficult. Only less than 2% of college football players will make it to the NFL, and even less will stay there or get considerable field time.

I have an article about why the NFL scores are lower than in college, and there is a logical answer. One of the reasons is the far more competitive playstyle in the NFL because the best of the best are there, and the skill difference between the NFL players is less than in college.

There are far more teams in college football, and the skill differences between players and teams are very high. This means that some teams will annihilate other teams in college football, where other teams won’t have a chance. This isn’t so in the NFL, as the skill gaps between players and teams aren’t that wide.

Therefore, even the best player will have a hard time competing and thriving in the NFL, whereas a great player will thrive in college football.

Earnings

When it comes to professional and college leagues and the difficulties between, you can bet your football-loving self that the earnings are drastically different. But how different are the earnings between NFL and college football players?

The top NFL players can earn more than $50 million annually, such as Aron Rodgers (QB) for the Green Bay Packers. In contrast, college football players don’t get directly paid because they’re amateurs. However, college players can get paid through their social media accounts, sponsorships, etc.

In fact, there are various ways college players can get paid the same way many modern-day interned entrepreneurs do. They just don’t get officially paid by the NCAA because of their amateur status. Although, there are some cases where college athletes have been paid under the table as bribes.

Anyways, here are popular ways that college football players can get paid;

• Social media accounts
• Endorsement deals
• Selling signatures & appearances
• Hosting courses or lessons
• Monetizing through identities & names

In addition, many college football players will get sponsorships in high school. This means their college tuition and other fees are paid, but that’s it for the official ways to earn through college.

Number of Teams

One of the most noticeable differences between college and professional football leagues is the number of teams. This also affects the popularity and view counts that I will be talking about shortly.

That said, colleges, universities, and academies field 130 college football teams. The teams are divided into ten different conferences. In contrast, the NFL has only 32 teams split up into eight divisions.

The number of teams and their difference is massive. This also makes the NFL much more predictable. There are fewer teams, and the competition is tougher, so analysts, experts, and even individuals can make educated guesses about the season. However, this isn’t so easy in college football.

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Popularity

Last but not least, popularity. You might think that the NFL will crush college football in popularity, but the gap isn’t that big, and the answer isn’t black and white either. This begs the question, which is more popular, college or professional football?

Overall, the NFL is more popular than college football. The Super Bowl final gets over 100 million views, whereas the college national championships get over 20 million. However, college football games can draw more live attendance than the NFL, and it’s often considered more fun.

You should note that college football teams often have bigger stadiums and cheaper tickets, which drastically influences the live views. There are other factors to consider as well.

For example, many people say that college football is more fun to watch for various reasons. First of all, the community and ambiance are often better than in the NFL. The match feels more personal, it might be your home town/city playing, and the players play without monetary compensation, making them more passionate about sport. And it shows!

On the other hand, the NFL games are much better in skill, organization, and rich events. The competition is fierce, and the players are the best you can see on this earth, so it’s more fascinating to watch.

However, when we talk about popularity, we need to talk about numbers, not emotion and preferences, although they have a say. Here are some important events & their numbers;

• 2021 Suber Bowl Final Views: 112.3 million
• National College Championship Views: 22.6 million
• Total Average NFL Views/Game: 17.1 million
• Total Average College Football Views/Game: 1.7 million
• Average NFL Live Spectators: 66,000
• Average College Football Live Spectators: 40,000

In addition, this data provided by Statista shows that the majority of people enjoy watching the NFL more than college football. I think that sums it up; the NFL is more popular than college football.