But that requires a very patient man or woman to select the most important periods of play.
Now scientists in Spain are trying to make that work easier by getting a computer to do it.
The technology is being designed to automatically edit a whole game down to the key moments.
The people behind it at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia have been working on it for a few years and have just published 18 pages of exactly how it works.
Arnau Raventos is the lead professor on the project.
He tells Newsbeat they have "been working with the local television companies in Spain in order to try to make the job easier for the person who manually does the summaries currently."
Without having to read the full report (we did that for you) - in short - it analyses what are known as key-frames.
So, every part of the match is looked over by the computer to spot tell-tale signs of when something interesting is happening.
That might be lots of players grouped together, lots of zoomed-in action, extra noise from the crowd or the sound of the referee's whistle.
Arnau calls them "occasions".
"We want to find specific combinations of moments in a football match. A goal is an occasion."
We thought of an example: if a defender goes down in the penalty box, everyone groups around them, you'll hear a whistle, there's lots of faces in the shot and a penalty happens. In theory, the technology should capture that.
There is a long way to go though.
The technology could frustrate even the most lukewarm of football fans because it hasn't quite nailed exactly the magic moment - when the goal goes in.
In a test on five matches, the technology detected 70 per cent of the total goals.
"We need to be sincere," says Arnau. "We need to say that at the moment it's not possible to perform a complete automatic summary just yet. It's difficult to detect all the goals."
"However, we think it's very easy to discard those moments that are not important. For example, the panoramic views. They are easy to detect and to discard them so that already makes the job of the editor easier."
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The availability of psychoactive drugs was also a concern following a spate of hospital admissions.
Progress had been made since the last report but concerns remained, the chief inspector of prisons said.
The National Offender Management Service said it would "work hard to improve".
HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) carried out the inspection last autumn during 29 September and 3 October.
Inspectors said levels of violence had risen since the last inspection and "were now considerably higher than in similar prisons".
They said not enough was being done to "investigate individual violent incidents" and the prison was not dealing with perpetrators and victims.
Concern was also raised over the "availability of new psychoactive substances such as 'Spice'" - a substance which is a synthetic cannabinoid and acts like cannabis.
The inspection report cited seven "Spice-related emergency admissions to hospital" in the past six months.
But "the governor and staff had made huge efforts to respond to recommendations," HMIP said in its report.
Inspectors said they were "pleased" to find "a marked improvement in the staff culture and attitudes of staff since 2013".
They also said mental health provision was "very good", with prisoners at risk of suicide and self-harm feeling "well-supported".
But although "considerable progress" had been made, the prison still required support to make further improvements.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said: "HMP Bristol has come a long way in a relatively short time since the last inspection.
"The distance the prison has already travelled has involved real determination, hard work and resilience from managers and staff which needs to be recognised.
"It is important they now receive support to make the further improvements required."
Michael Spurr, from the National Offender Management Service, said: "There remain a number of key areas for improvement, and the prison will continue to work hard to address these, supported by 10 new prison officers who will start later this month."
The prison was previously criticised following an unannounced inspection in May 2013 when concerned inspectors said they would "return earlier than usual".
HMP Bristol is a category B local prison holding young adult and adult men.
For years Match of the Day has satisfied impatient football fans by condensing a 90 minute match into a handy chunk of highlights.
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Levels of violence have "risen sharply" at Bristol Prison, with not "enough being done to protect some vulnerable prisoners", a report has found.