COWLES FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH IN ECONOMICS
AT YALE UNIVERSITY

Box 208281
New Haven, CT 06520-8281

COWLES FOUNDATION DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 751

"A Model of a Sudden-Death Field-Goal Football Game: A Sequential Duel"

Siddhartha Sahi and Martin Shubik

May 1985

This paper introduces a highly simplified version of ‘sudden-death’ scoring. The basic game is as follows. With equal probability the teams toss to see who gets the ball. The team with the ball can either run or try to kick a field goal. The first team to score wins the game.

JEL Classification: 114, 026

Keywords: Tactical combat, war and defense, football, sequential duel