The dimensions for an American football field are 360 feet long (120 yds, which includes 10-yard endzones at each end of the field) and 160 feet wide. This equates to 6,400 square yards or 1.322 acres. And, in meters: 109.73 meters long and 48.77 meters wide.
Comparing professional football fields to other professional sports fields
| Sport | Length | Width | % of Football Field Size (square yds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Football (NFL) | 360 feet | 160 feet | n/a |
| Football (Canadian) | 450 feet | 195feet | 52.3% larger |
| Football (Arena) | 200 feet | 85 feet | 70.5% smaller |
| Soccer | 408 feet | 279 feet | 97.6% larger |
| Lacrosse | 330 feet | 180 feet | 3.1% larger |
Of the five sports fields listed, professional football fields rank the 4th largest.
Football Fields vs. Soccer Fields
Professional football fields are noticeably smaller than soccer fields, both in length and in width. Standard soccer fields are ~13% longer and 74% wider than football fields.
Different Types of Professional Football
The Canadian Football League is known for being offense-oriented, and this is largely a product of the larger dimensions relative to NFL fields. On the other hand, Arena Football uses a much smaller field than both CFL and NFL; however, Arena Football only uses 8 players at a time, which necessitates using a smaller playing surface.
Has the NFL playing field always been 100 yards (or 120 yards if counting the two endzones) x 53 1/3 yards?
The NFL playing field has always had the same dimensions since its founding in 1920. Professional football, though, precedes the NFL. The original playing field was 110 yards long with no endzones. The width was the same 53 1/3 yards.
