Tie (draw): Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

To tie or draw is to finish a competition with identical or inconclusive results.

In some sports and games, ties are possible.

• American football: Tie games, which were commonplace through the 1960s, have become exceedingly rare.
  • In the National Football League, an additional period is played, and the game ends when one side scores by any method. In the regular season, if the score remains even at the end of one extra period, the game is declared a tie; in the playoffs, the game continues until a winner is determined.
  • Ties were once possible in college football, but in the 1990s an overtime procedure was introduced to make this no longer a possibility.

• Baseball: A game can end in a tie if at least five innings have been played, the score is even, and the game is called off because of weather conditions. Under some rules, a tie may also be declared if a game is called for darkness.

• Basketball: The rules provide for as many extra periods as necessary to decide a game. However, on rare occasions time or other circumstances have not allowed a game to be completed to a decision, and a tie has been declared.

• Chess: A stalemate is one game situation by which a game can end in a draw; draws can also be the result of an agreement between the players, or if fifty moves occur without checkmate or stalemate occurring, a pawn being moved, or a piece being captured.

• Cricket: Cricket makes a clear distinction between a tie and a draw, which are two different possible results of a game.
  • A tie is the identical result that occurs when each team has scored the same number of runs after their allotted innings. This is very rare and has happened only twice in the history of Test cricket.
  • A draw is the inconclusive result that occurs when the allotted playing time for the game expires without the teams having completed their innings. This is relatively common, occurring in 20-30% of Test matches.

• Football (soccer): If both sides have scored an equal number of goals within regulation time (usually 90 minutes), the game is usually counted as a draw. In elimination games, where a winner must be determined to progress to the next stage of the tournament, two periods of extra time are played. If the score remains even after this this time, the match technically remains a draw, however kicks from the penalty mark (penalty shootouts) are used to determine which team is to progress to the next stage of the tournament.

• Ice hockey: If the score is even after three periods, the game may end in a tie, or overtime may be played. In the National Hockey League, the regular-season tie-breaker is five minutes long, with each side playing one man short. A goal wins the game in sudden death; otherwise, it ends in a tie. In the playoffs, the game continues until a team scores.

Ara Parseghian, former head American football coach at the University of Notre Dame, once said that a tie was like "kissing your sister."