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A draw or tie occurs in a
competitive sport Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
when the results are identical or inconclusive. Ties or draws are possible in some, but not all, sports and games. Such an outcome, sometimes referred to as deadlock, can also occur in other areas of life such as
politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studie ...
,
business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separa ...
, and wherever there are different factions regarding an issue. In some sports, such as
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, a tie and a draw have different meanings.


Terminology

The word ''Tie'' is usually used in North America, whereas the word ''draw'' is usual elsewhere. In
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, a draw and a tie are two different results.


Resolving ties or draws

In instances where a winner must be determined, several methods are commonly used. Across various sports: * Some other measure may be used, such as aggregate point difference. * A game may continue on in
extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
. To ensure a quick result, some form of sudden death rule may apply. * In some sports, a
penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...
or
bowl-out A bowl-out (sometimes termed a bowl-off) was used as a tiebreaker in various forms of limited overs cricket to decide a match that would otherwise end in a tie. Five bowlers from each side deliver one or two balls each at an unguarded wicket (th ...
may occur. * A rematch may occur at a later date, especially if a winner must be selected (in a final). * The result might be decided by chance (''e.g.'' a toss of a coin) when no objective method of determining a result remains. The rules governing the resolution of drawn
matches A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
are rarely uniform across an entire sport, and are usually specified by the rules of the competition.


Politics

In other areas, such as in a vote, there may be a method to break the tie. Having an odd number of voters is one solution—after the election of the
Doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics". Etymology The ...
of
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
by a committee of 40 was deadlocked in a tie, the number of electors was increased to 41—but may not always be successful, for example, if a member is absent or abstains, or if there are more than two candidates. In many cases one member of an assembly may by convention not normally vote, but will exercise a
casting vote A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock ...
in case of deadlock. Sometimes some method of random choice, such as tossing a coin, may be resorted to even in a formal vote. In some
legislative bodies A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known a ...
, a casting vote can only be exercised according to strict rules or constitutional conventions. For example, the
Speaker of the British House of Commons The speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the lower house and primary chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The current speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, was elected Speaker on 4 November 2019 ...
(a position whose functions and conventions of operation inspire similar roles in several other nations using the Westminster system) is expected by convention to follow
Speaker Denison's rule Speaker Denison's rule is a constitutional convention established by John Evelyn Denison, who was Speaker of the British House of Commons from 1857 to 1872, regarding how the Speaker decides on their casting vote in the event of a tie in the ...
(i.e. to vote to allow further discussion, if this is possible, and otherwise to vote in favour of the ''status quo''). This in effect means "Yes/Yea/Aye" on the first and second
reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling) ...
of a bill, "No/Nay" on the third, "Yes/Yea/Aye" on the government's
budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environment ...
, and "No/Nay" on a
motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
.


Examples of two-player games


Chess

Chess has seven ways of ending or achieving a draw from an opponent:
stalemate Stalemate is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferi ...
, agreement between the players, the
fifty-move rule The fifty-move rule in chess states that a player can claim a draw if no has been made and no pawn has been moved in the last fifty moves (for this purpose a "move" consists of a player completing a turn followed by the opponent completing a turn ...
, seventy-five-move rule,
threefold repetition In chess, the threefold repetition rule states that a player may claim a draw if the same position occurs three times during the game. The rule is also known as repetition of position and, in the USCF rules, as triple occurrence of position.Articl ...
, fivefold repetition, or neither player having sufficient material to
checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...
. At top-level play, roughly half of games end in a draw.


Boxing

When a match ends with completion of the specified maximum number of rounds, and the judges of the match have awarded an equal number of points to both boxers, or if there are three judges (as is the custom) and one judge awards the fight to one fighter, another awards the fight to the opposing fighter, and the third scores it a draw (
split draw A split draw is an outcome in several full-contact combat sports, including boxing, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred t ...
), the match is declared a draw. The contest would be scored a draw even if two of three judges score it a draw and the third does not (a
majority draw A majority draw is an outcome in several full-contact combat sports, including boxing, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referre ...
). Draws are relatively rare in boxing: certain scoring systems make it impossible for a judge to award equal points for a match. If a championship bout ends in a draw, the champion usually retains the title. If there is a draw in a quarterfinal or a semifinal match of a tournament, a tiebreaker round is played instead.


Sumo

In professional
sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...
, draws were once common place but are no longer used in any situation. In situations that would have resulted in draws (such as close results, exhaustion, or injury) are currently resolved with immediate rematches, temporary breaks, or forfeiture.


Tennis

In most professional tennis matches, a
tiebreaker In games and sports, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is used to determine a winner from among players or teams that are tied at the end of a contest, or a set of contests. General operation In matches In some situations, the tiebreaker may consi ...
rule applies in each set to avoid lengthy matches, as happens quite frequently if the traditional tennis rule for winning a set is followed. When players reach a score of 6–all in a set, instead of continuing the set until one opponent wins with a two-game difference, a special game is played to decide the winner of the set; the winner is the first to reach at least seven points with a difference of two over the opponent. This however didn't apply to the final set of matches at the French Open, allowing the total number of games in a match to be virtually unlimited (for example, the final set of the Isner–Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships ended only when
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers e ...
beat
Nicolas Mahut Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at th ...
70–68). The
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
and
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is play ...
did not use a final set tiebreaker through the 2018 tournaments, but began to use a tiebreaker from 2019 (For Wimbledon, the final set tiebreaker occurred after 24 games in the final set, from 2019 to 2021). Since 2022, all Grand Slam tournaments, including the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
in 2024, now use 10-point final set tiebreaker games, with a 2-point lead minimum. If the tiebreaker game deciding the match is tied at 9-all, whoever scores two straight points wins.


Video games

In versus-
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining attac ...
s, a draw occurs when both players end the match through a ''double KO''; or via ''time over'', with the same percentage of life bar. For example, some of these games, such as ''
Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may ...
'' and ''
Tekken is a Japanese Media mix, media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations. The ...
'', require two rounds to win the match, and if after a third round the score ends in a 1–1 draw, the players have to fight again in an extra round. If this extra round ends in a draw, the game will end for both players. In ''
Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The development of the first game was originally based on an idea that Ed Boon and John Tobias had of making a v ...
'', if a round ends when the time runs out and both players have complete life bars, the game ends for both players, because due to ''Mortal Kombat''s gameplay (in which ''every'' common hit takes block damage) it is virtually impossible for a round to end tied, and that means the players were not playing for real. In the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, if two or more players have equal lives or points at the end of a match, a sudden death period begins with each fighter having 300% damage, essentially making it so a single hit can win the match.


Notes

:1.In most tournament settings, sudden death is not used for breaking ties, with most rulesets awarding the game to the player with more lives, or whoever has taken less damage if they have the same amount of lives.


Examples of multi-player games


American football

Tie games, which were commonplace in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
(NFL) through the 1960s, had become exceedingly rare with the introduction of sudden death
overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...
, which first applied to the regular season in 1974. The first game this new rule applied to ended in a tie between the
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
and
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...
. However, modifications to overtime rules within the past ten years have actually made ties somewhat more common. The most recent NFL tie game occurred on December 4, 2022, when a game between the
Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...
and
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
ended in a 20–all tie after overtime. * In the NFL, if the team having first possession in overtime scores only a
field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ball ...
, the other team receives the ball and can either tie the game with a field goal resulting in continuation of overtime (which then becomes sudden death) or score a
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
, thereby winning the game. This modified sudden death rule was instituted during the 2010 playoffs and adopted for the 2012 regular season. If the overtime period ends with the score tied, either because both teams scored field goals on their initial possessions and failed to score again or neither team scored throughout the duration of the overtime period, then the game ends in a tie. Tie games are listed as part of a team's official record, counting in the team's winning percentage as half a win and half a loss. A game ending in a scoreless tie has never occurred since the introduction of overtime. The exception to this rule is the playoffs. In the playoffs additional overtime periods are played until a winner is determined. :Ties are so rare in the modern league that after
Donovan McNabb Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Before his NFL career, he played football and ...
and other
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The t ...
players said—when the team and the Cincinnati Bengals tied 1313 in 2008—that they did not know that a game could end in a tie,
Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. (; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football ...
estimated that 50% of players did not know. After rookie Najee Harris and other players on both teams admitted in 2021—after the Steelers tied the
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
16-16—that they had expected the game to continue, NFL.com wrote that since McNabb, "it seems every time a game ends without a victor, at least one player admits he didn't know it was possible". * In National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college football, overtime was introduced in 1996, eliminating ties. When a game goes to overtime, each team is given one possession from its opponent's twenty-five-yard line with no game clock, despite the one timeout per period and use of play clock. The team leading after both possessions is declared the winner. If the teams remain tied, overtime periods continue, with a coin flip determining the first possession. Possessions alternate with each overtime, until one team leads the other at the end of the overtime. Starting with the second overtime, a one-point PAT field goal after a touchdown is no longer allowed, forcing teams to attempt a two-point conversion after a touchdown. If the game continues past the second overtime, the teams alternate attempting two-point conversions (a single play from the 3 yard line) until the tie is resolved. ** The unpopularity of ties in American sports is reflected in the saying, "A tie is like kissing your sister." The earliest known use of the phrase was by
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It i ...
football coach Eddie Erdelatz after a scoreless tie against
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
in 1953. **The
1968 Yale vs. Harvard football game The 1968 Yale vs. Harvard football game was a college football game between the and the , played on November 23, 1968. The game ended in a 29–29 tie after Harvard made what is considered a miraculous last-moment comeback, scoring 16 ...
ended in a 29–29 tie, but the ''
Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at ...
'' student newspaper famously printed the headline "
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan cler ...
". ** 6 October 1990:
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the w ...
and
Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
end their game in a 34–34 tie, giving KU the all-time
NCAA Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
record for number of tie games with 57. Illinois State holds the Division I-AA record for ties with 66. Since then, NCAA football games have a tie-breaking rule, so only an extenuating circumstances game suspended on account of weather, or a rule change reinstating ties would allow this record to be broken. The 1995/96 school year was the last to feature non-weather curtailed tie games. ** NCAA Rule 3-3-3, Suspending the Game, permits tie games primarily on weather. NCAA rules on inclement weather include policies on lightning, requiring a minimum 30-minute delay upon the first detected lightning strike within of the venue, and each lightning strike detected at the venue results in an automatic resetting of the clock. Officially, a tie game can only be declared if the teams agree to, or the conference declares the game, a draw, because of severe weather conditions if the game cannot continue at a reasonable time (curfew, travel logistics, weather warnings), it is an official game, and the game is tied. Official tie games can take place if the score is tied at any time when the game is suspended, tied at the end of regulation, or at any overtime period. If one team has scored in their overtime period, but the second team has yet to complete its overtime period when the game is forced to end early because of weather, as in baseball, the score is wiped out and the game ends in a tie.


Association football

If both sides have scored an equal number of goals within regulation time (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 Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
are played. If the score remains even after this time, the match technically remains a draw; however, a
penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...
(officially called "kicks from the penalty mark") is used to determine which team is to progress to the next stage of the tournament. The team who wins the shootout is the winner of the match. In less important competitions, the extra time may be skipped and the match goes straight to penalties after a drawn 90 minutes. Some competitions, such as the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...
employ a system of replays where the drawn match is repeated at the ground of the away team in the first game. Although this was a widely used tiebreaker, it fell out of favour after excessive replays caused organisational and practicality issues. In two-leg, home-and-away fixtures in which a winner must be determined at the end of the second leg, the
away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
may be employed if teams' aggregate scores over two legs are level; the rule gives victory to whichever team scored more in its respective away leg. Typically the rule may be invoked both to obviate extra time and after extra time to obviate a penalty shootout. All
UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...
(European) club competitions used away goals until 2021; by contrast, CONMEBOL (South America) competitions did not use this rule until 2005.
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
, the Tier One league in the United States and Canada, did not adopt the away goals rule until 2014.


Australian rules football

Draws in Australian rules football have occurred at an average of two per season (under the current fixture). If a draw occurs during a regular season match, the result stands as a draw, and both teams earn premiership points equivalent to half of a win (two points, or one in South Australian competition). Traditionally, when a draw occurred during a finals match, the match would be replayed the following week, but the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
introduced extra time to finals (except for the
Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
) in 1991 following the logistical difficulties that arose after the
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...
Qualifying Final between Collingwood and West Coast was drawn, and introduced extra time to Grand Finals in 2016. Where used, extra time typically consists of two periods, each three minutes long (plus time-on if applicable), with winner being the team ahead after both periods; if scores are still level at the end of extra time, this process is repeated, with additional two 3-minute periods being played as needed until a winner can be determined.


Baseball

Ties are relatively rare in baseball, since the practice dating back to the earliest days of the game is to play
extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...
until one side has the lead after an equal number of innings played. Nonetheless a game can be called a tie in some situations, usually in a case where one or both teams have used all available pitchers. Games can be called after fifth innings in extenuating circumstances, such as suspension due to bad weather. For some amateur and international games, tiebreakers are used prompting an earlier conclusion during extra innings: If a tiebreaker is used, after a certain extra innings (usually 3 or 4, determined by organizer before the tournament), the innings will start with the previous two batters loaded. *In
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
, a game may end in a tie only due to weather or, historically, darkness (a called game due to darkness is unlikely to happen now that all Major League parks have
floodlights A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...
; darkness also means reaching the curfew prohibiting innings from starting after 1 am local time). While any game that has reached 5 full innings is statistically official, a tie game does not count in the standings. Before 2007, tie games ended by weather were replayed from the start, but since 2007, the games are continued from where they left off. A tie game may also be declared if a game is tied, the two teams are not scheduled to play again for the remainder of the year, and the game does not affect playoff implications; a recent example occurred on 29 September 2016, between the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
and the
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associat ...
. **The 2002 All-Star Game was declared a tie after eleven innings, due to a lack of pitchers; this decision was considered controversial, and from the following season onward, MLB awarded home field advantage in the World Series to the league that won the game to prevent such a situation in the future. *In Japan, a game in regular season (including interleague) or
Climax Series The is the current annual Nippon Professional Baseball playoffs, playoff system implemented by Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). It determines which team from the Central League (CL) and from the Pacific League (PL) will advance to comp ...
(the 3-team stepladder playoff to determine the team playing
Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...
) tied after nine innings may continue for up to three extra innings, after which the game is called a tie if the score is still even after 12 innings. Ties do not count against a team, however, and are "discarded" for purposes of winning percentage. If teams are tied in the won-loss percentage at the end of the season, the team with the better record the previous season wins the tiebreaker. If a tie occurred in the Climax Series (tied series in the first round or 2–3–1 with the first-place team winning two games, the team winning the first round winning three, and one game is tied), the team with better standing in that regular season advances. **During the
Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...
, prior to 1993, up to nine extra innings could be played, and from 1994 until 2018, up to six extra innings could be played, for a limit of 15 innings in the first seven games. The maximum game length was reduced to 12 innings for the 2018 Series; thus Game 1 between the
Hiroshima Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...
and the
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...
ended in a 2-2 12 inning draw. If no team has won the series after seven games, all subsequent games starting with game eight will be played without an innings limit. **During the 2011 season and 2012 regular season, the
2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...
resulted in special rule changes for energy conservation. All night games had a 3-hour, 30-minute limit, and the result was an automatic tie game if it was tied after the 9th inning and the time limit was reached. The rule did not apply to the
2011 Japan Series The 2011 Japan Series (known as the ''Konami Nippon Series 2011'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 62nd edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff matched the Chunichi Dragons and Fukuoka SoftBank ...
, and was later lifted before the beginning of the 2012 Climax Series. **Unlike MLB, NPB's All-star games do not include extra innings. Therefore, a tie will be declared if 9 innings have been played if neither side is leading. *In Taiwan's
CPBL The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2 ...
, the same rule as NPB applies in the regular season. In the
Taiwan Series Taiwan Series () is the championship series of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). It is usually played in late October or early November, after the regular season. It was formerly known as the ''CPBL Seasonal Championship Series'' () ...
, there is no limit to the number of innings in a game, but any game that has reached official game status and is tied when a game is called because of weather is an official tie game. (Amended in 2011). *In America's college baseball, a conference will declare a game may be tied in extenuating circumstances, usually in the final game of a series only, or in non-conference midweek games: ** The game reaches curfew time, to allow the visiting team to travel home for classes the next day. Often, the curfew time will be early, forcing the game to be started early. In the
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
, for example, the visiting team shall post travel details and a designated departure time to the home team prior to the start of the season, with no game starting later than 1 pm local time if a team is using commercial air travel. No half-inning may start within 15 minutes of the designated departure time. ** If an inning begins, and the visiting team has scored at least one run to take the lead, but the home team has not finished its turn to bat in the extra inning, the entire inning can be wiped off and the game declared a tie. This is typically used in extra innings. *** However, if a game starts late, and the trailing team is at bat at the 15-minute point, and ties the game, the game can be declared a tie. *Many amateur baseball leagues include tie games in the standing if an official game is called for darkness or rain with a tie score. Ofttimes a point system is used for standings, with two points being awarded for a win, and one for a tie. *For Japanese's High-School level baseball, which they are held in form of single-elimination knockout tournaments, prior to a 2018 rule adopting the WBSC tiebreaker, a tie was declared after 15 innings (18 innings before 2001) with a replayed game the next day. Since the 2018 tournament, all games adopted the WBSC tiebreakers in 13th inning with the exception of both Koushien finals: those games can still declare as tie (and rematched) like previous rule, and only during the replayed game will the tiebreaker be in effect starting with the 13th inning. *In International level games, tiebreaker rule are introduced in the
2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
. The finals of the
2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference t ...
is the first international game using under this rule.


Basketball

Ties are somewhat rare in basketball due to the high-scoring nature of the game: if the score is tied at the end of regulation, the rules provide that as many extra periods as necessary will be played until one side has a higher score. If a game is non-competitive (such as an exhibition game), a draw may be declared if the scores are tied at the end of regulation. Draws are also possible in any competition such as
European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
competitions Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...
where knockout stages in that league are contested as a
two-legged tie In sports (particularly association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum o ...
. If the first leg is tied, or the second leg is tied but there is a definitive winner in the two-game aggregate score, then no extra period is played.


Cricket

Cricket distinguishes between a '' tie'' and a ''
draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...
'', which are two possible results of a game: *A tie is the ''identical'' result that occurs when each team has scored the same total number of runs after their allotted
innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bo ...
, all innings being completed. This is very rare in
Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...
and has happened only twice in its long history, but they are slightly more commonplace in first-class and limited-overs matches. In some forms of
one-day cricket Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket or white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty ...
, such as
Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inning ...
, a Super Over or a
bowl-out A bowl-out (sometimes termed a bowl-off) was used as a tiebreaker in various forms of limited overs cricket to decide a match that would otherwise end in a tie. Five bowlers from each side deliver one or two balls each at an unguarded wicket (th ...
is used as a tiebreaker to decide a result that would otherwise be a tie. See this list of tied games. *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. A team with little hope of victory will try to play out the remaining time and cause a draw. The principal purpose of a
declaration Declaration may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Declaration'' (book), a self-published electronic pamphlet by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri * ''The Declaration'' (novel), a 2008 children's novel by Gemma Malley Music ...
is for a team who are leading to avoid consuming time and increasing the chances of a draw. Limited-overs matches cannot be drawn, although they can end with a ''no result'' if abandoned because of weather or other factors.


Ice hockey

If the score is even after three periods, the game may end in a tie, or overtime may be played. In most North American professional leagues, the regular-season tie-breaker is five minutes long, with each side playing at least one man short. Starting with the
2015–16 NHL season The 2015–16 NHL season was the 99th season of operation (98th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). Thirty teams competed in 82-game regular season schedules from October 7, 2015 to April 10, 2016. The 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs ...
, the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
went from playing one man short to two men short in overtime. Should a team have two players penalised during the overtime, the team on the power play will play with a fifth player. In the
Southern Professional Hockey League The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in the midwe ...
, each side plays only three players, with a minor penalty in the first three minutes resulting in a team on the power play earning an extra man; a minor penalty in the final two minutes, or a major penalty, results in the awarding of a
penalty shot A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...
. A goal wins the game in sudden death; otherwise, a
shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...
will occur, with three players participating for each side. If the score is still tied, the shootout will go into sudden death. In North American minor leagues, the same procedure is used except shootouts are five players. In each case, the winner of the shootout is awarded credit for a regulation win (two points), and the loser of the overtime is marked with an overtime loss (OTL) and receives credit equal to half of one win (one point). In the National Hockey League, shootout wins are still counted as two points, but for breaking a tie in terms of points at the end of the season, the team with more regulation and overtime wins (ROW) takes the higher position in the standings. The
Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (officially SHL; sv, Svenska Hockeyligan) is a professional ice hockey league, and the highest division in the Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, a ...
(SHL) uses a 3–2–1–0 point system in the regular season, where a regulation win is worth three points, a win in the five-minute sudden death overtime period or a shootout win two points, and an overtime loss as well as a shootout loss one point in the standings. In the National Hockey League, in the playoffs, in general unlimited 20 minute sudden death periods are played, making a tie impossible. An exception occurred during the 1988 Finals, when a power failure forced the early abandonment of Game 4 between the Boston Bruins and the
Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
with the score tied 3-3. The game was later replayed in its entirety, with the Oilers winning and sweeping the Finals except for the one shortened tie game.


Tournament poker

Ties rarely occur, since multiple simultaneous player eliminations will rank the eliminated players by chip counts. However, if two or more players are eliminated in one hand, and both players started the hand with identical chip counts, the players will be tied in official rankings. It is impossible for poker tournaments to end in a tie (since one player must end up with all the chips), though multiple players may be tied for second (or lower) place.


Racing sports

In racing sports, if competitors appear to finish simultaneously and no technology (such as a
photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the finis ...
) can separate them, this is considered a "dead heat" and in most cases the competitors tie for the place.


Horse racing

The term "dead heat" originally came from when horse racing from when horses used to race in matches consisting of multiple heats, rather than single races, with the total number of wins for horses determining winner of the match. When the judges could not determine the first horse over the finish line, the heat was declared "dead", and did not count. If there is a dead heat, wagers are paid on all winning horses, but against half the original stake (or one-third if there were three tied horses, and so on). See
List of dead heat horse races This list of dead heat horse races includes wins between two or more horses, where the winner could not be determined by a photo finish. Before the 20th century, dead heat horse races could be settled by a second deciding race, unless the owners ...
.


Motorsport

Ties in motor racing almost never occur. Nearly all modern racing cars and motorcycles carry electronic
transponder In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight tran ...
s which relay precise timing information down to the thousandths of a second. However, a photo-finish camera is used at the finish line, and if the two vehicles cross the line together, the position may be declared a tie. The 1974
Firecracker 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series ci ...
is the only case in modern
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
history where a tie has occurred in a position;
Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...
and
Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 198 ...
tied for third after 160 laps. At the 2002 United States Formula One Grand Prix,
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car ...
's
Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
attempted to stage a dead heat with teammate
Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...
but "failed by a little" as Schumacher said, finishing 0.011 seconds behind Barrichello. The F1 Sporting Regulations provide that in the event of a dead heat in a race, points and prizes will be added together and shared equally among the tying drivers. In
Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of ...
, dead heats are avoided by fastest lap times being a tiebreaking measure. This rule resulted in Héctor Faubel winning the 125cc classification of the
2011 German motorcycle Grand Prix The 2011 German motorcycle Grand Prix was the ninth round of the 2011 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 15–17 July 2011 at the Sachsenring, located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany. The 125cc race was notable ...
after a photo finish could not separate him and
Johann Zarco Johann Zarco (born 16 July 1990) is a French Grand Prix motorcycle racer, best known for winning the and Moto2 World Championships with his 2015 triumph being a record points total for the intermediate class. He rides for Pramac Racing. Zar ...
.


Rugby league

In the premier Australasian rugby league competition, the
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
, draws are possible but first are subject to
golden point The golden point, a sudden death overtime system, is used to resolve drawn football matches. The term is borrowed from soccer's now-defunct golden goal. Rugby league Australia The golden point is used to determine a winner (where applicable, see ...
overtime. Golden point also applies to the
State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...
and Four Nations matches. In rugby league in the United Kingdom, draws can also occur, as in league games, if the score of both teams remain level by the end of 80 minutes play, the game ends a draw, and each team is awarded one point in the league rather than two for a win.


Rugby union

Draws are uncommon in rugby union due to the variety of different ways to score and different values for each type of score. Draws are allowed to stand in league play. In the knockout stages of the
Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb ...
, two 10-minute periods of extra time are played. If there is still no winner, a 10-minute period of sudden death is played where any score wins the game. Should the result still be tied a place-kicking competition is held where 5 players from each side take one kick each from anywhere on the 22-metre line (usually straight in front of the posts). The semi-final of the
Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pr ...
between
Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arm ...
and
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its ho ...
at the
Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national ru ...
was decided by a "kick-off". After five kicks per team, the scores were level at 4–4 after Johne Murphy (Leicester) and Tom James (Cardiff) had missed their kicks. Moving now to sudden death, the score continued to 6–6 but, after Martyn Williams pulled his kick wide, Leicester number eight Jordan Crane scored to send Leicester Tigers to the Heineken Cup Final in Edinburgh. In certain knockout competitions, if the scores are drawn after 80 minutes, the teams that have scored the most tries are considered the victors. However, if the number of tries scored are equal, the teams proceed to play overtime.


Ties in tournament play


See also

*
Weak ordering In mathematics, especially order theory, a weak ordering is a mathematical formalization of the intuitive notion of a ranking of a set, some of whose members may be tied with each other. Weak orders are a generalization of totally ordered s ...
, a mathematical formulation of a ranking that allows ties (such as in the outcome of a horse race)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tie (Draw) American football terminology Baseball terminology Basketball terminology Cricket terminology Association football terminology Ice hockey statistics