How long is a curling game?

So you’ve decided to watch Olympic curling. So, what’s the time commitment?

Curling is a delightful Olympic sport. Every four years, everyone gets irrationally excited about curling. It’s somewhat inexplicable, but it’s real and genuine.

Lucky for you, new curling fan, curling is also the one Olympic sport that happens every single day. It also happens both in the morning and in the evening. So, as far being totally screwed by Korea time, the schedule is pretty okay. Still, you might be wondering how much time you’re committing to this new fandom. How long is a curling game anyways?

Championship tournaments, like the Olympics, are 10 ends. An “end” is curling-speak for an inning. Each end takes approximately 15 minutes, according to Glenmore Curling, meaning an Olympic match is approximately two and a half hours long. Mixed doubles, however, which is the first curling tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics, is only eight ends — about two hours. (Other estimates put the mixed doubles game at just an hour and a half.)

This checks out: NBC blocks off three hours for its men’s and women’s curling coverage and two hours for its mixed doubles coverage.

By nature of the innings and game structure, curling is a relatively brisk game. It’s not fast-paced by any means, but it’s also not bogged down by 1,000 timeouts, fouls and TV breaks like some other sports. Teams can take their time delivering (shooting) the stone as they strategize the best move, but ultimately each side throws four stones, someone wins the end and they move on to the next end. The game moves along.

Next: 15 things to know and love about curling

Olympic curling begins the morning of Thursday, Feb. 8 in Pyeongchang, meaning Wednesday evening Feb. 7 in the United States, with the mixed doubles tournament — a new event at the Winter Olympics. The men and women’s tournaments begin on Wednesday, Feb. 14 in Korea and Tuesday, Feb. 13 in the United States.