How long is a game, and how do soft and hard caps work?

Q: How long is a game, and how do soft and hard caps work?

Standard game under the 2026-2027 rules: Game to 15. First team to reach the game total wins. Halftime starts when one team reaches 8, and lasts 7 minutes. After halftime, the standard time between pulls applies: the offense has 50 seconds to line up and 60 seconds to signal readiness, and the pull must be released by 80 seconds. Start of the game: the two teams fairly decide who chooses first. That team picks either to receive/pull or which end zone to defend; the other team gets the remaining choice, and the choices reverse in the second half. Caps (the times are set by the event organizer): Soft cap: finish the current point. If no one has won, add one to the higher score; that becomes the new game total. (If it hits during halftime, the new total is one more than the higher score.) Hard cap: finish the current point. If the score is tied, play one more goal; otherwise the game ends and the higher score wins. (If it hits during halftime, the game is over.) Halftime cap: finish the current point, then add one to the higher score to set the new halftime target. Event organizers can change game total, caps, halftime length and number of timeouts, but must announce any change before competition starts. If a team isn't ready for the scheduled start, the event organizer may award the opponent one goal per five minutes late.

Question

Accepted Answer

Standard game under the 2026-2027 rules:

Game to 15. First team to reach the game total wins.
Halftime starts when one team reaches 8, and lasts 7 minutes.
After halftime, the standard time between pulls applies: the offense has 50 seconds to line up and 60 seconds to signal readiness, and the pull must be released by 80 seconds.
Start of the game: the two teams fairly decide who chooses first. That team picks either to receive/pull or which end zone to defend; the other team gets the remaining choice, and the choices reverse in the second half.

Caps (the times are set by the event organizer):

Soft cap: finish the current point. If no one has won, add one to the higher score; that becomes the new game total. (If it hits during halftime, the new total is one more than the higher score.)
Hard cap: finish the current point. If the score is tied, play one more goal; otherwise the game ends and the higher score wins. (If it hits during halftime, the game is over.)
Halftime cap: finish the current point, then add one to the higher score to set the new halftime target.

Event organizers can change game total, caps, halftime length and number of timeouts, but must announce any change before competition starts. If a team isn't ready for the scheduled start, the event organizer may award the opponent one goal per five minutes late.