Science of sound at Seattle's stadium

[Doublejive]

Ok? I understand Seahawk fans take pride in the idea they are the loudest stadium in the NFL but it doesn't mean other fans are not as devoted or just as loud. As a Bronco fan I hate the Chiefs but I respect the heck out of their fans as even when they were bad they would fill that stadium and cheer as loud as they possibly could.

Where has any Hawk fan said other fans are not devoted? do you people just make stuff up in you're heads and assume?.

 

[Uhsplit]

whats weirdest of all is the level of pride they feel about it...seriously ? your claim to fame is making noise ? wow

Ok, no big.

What is the claim to fame for Donkey fans?

 

[Doublejive]

Ok, no big.

What is the claim to fame for Donkey fans?

Snowballs.

 

[boltfan72]

Good God, I never intended to call out anyone with this article. As an engineer I thought this was an interesting read on how the acoustics of the stadium helped contain sound. I really don't give a flying f*ck who has the loudest fans.

 

[Wolvie]

Lol it seems as though us Seahawks fans have completely taken over this thread. SEE, WE ARE LOUDER. That was me text shouting.

There are two facts here that are undisputed and should put all of this to rest. First, the Clink makes us Seahawks fans louder. Second, we have a rabid fan base.

That isn't to say that we are MORE rabid than other fan bases, but we are actually passionate about our Hawks, and our noise levels prove it. To come to the conclusion that we somehow have genetically superior lung capacities is pretty retarded (although we do have some pretty clean air up here ). And if any Hawks fan comes to the conclusion that our fans are louder and more passionate about our team than others is pretty retarded.

 

[KwitYerWhinin]

Ok, no big.

What is the claim to fame for Donkey fans?

I'm not familiar with a team that has a donkey as its mascot

 

[Doublejive]

Good God, I never intended to call out anyone with this article. As an engineer I thought this was an interesting read on how the acoustics of the stadium helped contain sound. I really don't give a flying f*ck who has the loudest fans.

It always goes there,you should of known that.

We have to go through this about once every three months and what's funny after breaking the World Record people still argue that Seattle is not the loudest,that includes soccer around the world etc.

 

[KwitYerWhinin]

Lol it seems as though us Seahawks fans have completely taken over this thread. SEE, WE ARE LOUDER. That was me text shouting.

There are two facts here that are undisputed and should put all of this to rest. First, the Clink makes us Seahawks fans louder. Second, we have a rabid fan base.

That isn't to say that we are MORE rabid than other fan bases, but we are actually passionate about our Hawks, and our noise levels prove it. To come to the conclusion that we somehow have genetically superior lung capacities is pretty retarded (although we do have some pretty clean air up here ). And if any Hawks fan comes to the conclusion that our fans are louder and more passionate about our team than others is pretty retarded.

no doubt thanks to your predisposition for ganging up on others ??

 

[Doublejive]

One other thing some people do not like how loud it is here,yes there is some people that cannot deal with it,so i mean it goes both ways somewhat.

 

[Uhsplit]

You've just compared yourself to one team. There are 32 in the NFL. Do you think the Seattle fans are somehow louder than the fans in Kansas City, for example?

To answer your question, if I wanted to know I would look at 2 things.
1) Results from instruments that measure the volume of sound.
2) Harder to guage but supporting data would be to look if it has any effect on opposing teams which is the reason for the sound in the 1st place.

 

[Uhsplit]

No, it's been proven that they are louder IN THEIR STADIUM.

If we were to do an experiment, and have the Seahawks play a home game at Arrowhead Stadium, and the Chiefs play a home game at Century Link, which stadium do you think would be louder?

Volume envy?

 

[cwood]

This is actually bad for the NFL. Every new stadium is going to copy the design and it's eventually going to get almost impossible to play road games.

 

[Doublejive]

In the north end zone, the design team created rows of aluminum bleachers. “When fans stomp on them,” Niemuth says, “things get really loud.”

That started in the Kingdome and not only at Hawk games but Mariner games,concerts etc.

 

[Doublejive]

This is actually bad for the NFL. Every new stadium is going to copy the design and it's eventually going to get almost impossible to play road games.

Nah,look at where you're team plays with such rich history or Chicago etc some things should not be changed.

 

[Uhsplit]

I'm not familiar with a team that has a donkey as its mascot

You have never heard of the Bronco's being called the Donkey's???

Ok, both animals are of the same species, similar to the Zebra. Sometimes NFL officials are called Zebra's due to their respective white and black stripes.

So, it is quite common for the Bronco's to be called Donkey's.

 

[Broncos6482]

Lol it seems as though us Seahawks fans have completely taken over this thread. SEE, WE ARE LOUDER. That was me text shouting.

There are two facts here that are undisputed and should put all of this to rest. First, the Clink makes us Seahawks fans louder. Second, we have a rabid fan base.

That isn't to say that we are MORE rabid than other fan bases, but we are actually passionate about our Hawks, and our noise levels prove it. To come to the conclusion that we somehow have genetically superior lung capacities is pretty retarded (although we do have some pretty clean air up here ). And if any Hawks fan comes to the conclusion that our fans are louder and more passionate about our team than others is pretty retarded.

 

[WizardHawk]

This is actually bad for the NFL. Every new stadium is going to copy the design and it's eventually going to get almost impossible to play road games.

Or even improve on it. If the designer has said it wasn't an intended aspect of the design what will happen when they start trying to design for sound impact? As has already been stated though we already have better sound reflection in domed stadiums and no one ever complained about them.

Even as a Seahawk fan I believe this can be taken too far and I don't know if this record shows it has or if that is a matter for debate. At some point you are causing damage to the hearing of every fan as well as the workers around the stadium. At some point I could see a lawsuit for unsafe working conditions for vendors, security, ushers, etc who cannot simply put ear plugs in and are forced to work in that sound.

Still what do you do about it? It rains in Seattle and the roof was designed to give some relief from it. Sound absorbing tiles on that part of the roof?

 

[packerzrule]

Good for you kiddo.

And it's the Ayatollah of Rock'rollah.

HAHAHAHA, Hawks fans continue to thunp their chests over their accomplishments, I just thought I would throw that in.


Actually, if you are referring to the character in the movie Heartbreak Ridge, his nickname was The Ayatollah of Rock N Rollah - but thanks for looking out for me

 

[David_son]

Hawks fans are the loudest and I really do not know why so many have an issue with that.


Gonna let you guys in on something,the upper bleachers yah wayyyy up at the top guess what the average decibel is? 110 and why does that matter? well il tell yah there is no sound being bounced back.

Care to read a little history?

A noise rule vs. the 12th Man? Unheard of -- or is it?


It must have been the world record the noisy Seattle fans set on Sunday night, because apparently a few bandwagon 49ers fans just heard about the 12th Man for the first time.

That is the only reasonable explanation for the noise complaint filed by the neighbors way down in San Francisco -- people apparently unfamiliar with the idea of home-field advantage in sports.

While we all laugh at these chuckleheads now for crying about unsportsmanlike conduct by cheering home crowds, believe it or not, there was a time when the NFL agreed with them.

The 12th Man has been around since the Seahawks first populated the Kingdome back in 1976. And the Kingdome really got rocking when Chuck Knox arrived in 1983 and led the Hawks to the playoffs. In fact, the team retired the No. 12 in honor of the fans in 1984 as the Hawks were busy finishing their best season to date (12-4).

But as the 1980s wore on and opposing teams got tired of trying to shout above the din of the Kingdome's deafening denizens, NFL owners actually voted to shut up the fans. The 1989 rule covered the entire league, but everyone knew it was aimed mostly at the Seahawks, their 12th Man and the Kingdome.

Knox was incensed by the rule, accusing owners of trying to "take away our fans' right to participate in the game."

In a preseason game against San Francisco in 1989, the league tried to send the 12th Man a message right away. Quarterback Steve Young appealed to referee Red Cashion three times, and Cashion threw three flags against the Hawks. Of course, all each hanky did was incite the crowd even more. It was comical -- and the league should have known that was the Pandora's Box it was opening.

As Paul Moyer, a safety for those Seahawks, said: "We're trying to get them (the fans) to tone it down, and they are getting louder. How can you penalize 67,000 people?"

Knox was still ticked off about the rule as the season opener approached. He said they should create a rule against throwing dog bones, as fans in Cleveland's Dawg Pound did, and one against throwing snowballs, as fans in Denver often did.

Commissioner Pete Rozelle apparently heard the wisdom of Knox's words, because on the eve of the season Rozelle told his officials to be judicious in penalizing home teams and also to penalize any offense that did not run a play when the officials thought it was quiet enough to do so.

Rozelle effectively vetoed the owners' vote.

In a game at the Kingdome that October, Denver QB John Elway stepped away from center three times and the referee warned the crowd three times -- but he never threw a flag. And then Elway was sacked by Seattle's speedy pass rusher, Rufus Porter.

In 1990, the raucous 12th Man helped Porter dominate the Cincinnati Bengals in a memorable Monday night upset by the Seahawks, and Bengals coach Sam Wyche said, "The fans were great to Seattle and not abusive to us, but obviously there is no crowd noise rule anymore."

The rule actually remained on the books until March 2007, when NFL owners quietly killed it.

They did so even though the Seahawks' outdoor stadium, which opened in 2002, had become every bit as loud as their indoor concrete mausoleum had been.

It was so loud for one game during the Seahawk's 2005 Super Bowl season that the Giants were called for 11 false starts. The next year, as the Giants reluctantly returned to Seattle, All-Pro defensive end Michael Strahan told reporters it was the loudest stadium he had ever been to.

"You can barely hear yourself talk. You can barely hear yourself think, actually," he said. "It's not just you against the Seahawks. This truly is a 12th man-type situation where you're playing against the fans, too."

A couple of seemingly new 49ers fans just found that out.

Listen I have no problem with it and I certainly wouldnt agree with any sort of anti noise rule unless your artificially creating noise, its part of the home field advantage. What I take issue with is that most (not all) Seattle fans refuse to just admit that it is the stadium between the positioning of the seats and the over hang it directs all the noise straight to the field. They pretend like they are the loudest greatest fans in the world and no one can touch them as the greatest fans because their stadium makes its louder then they actually are.

 

[Broncos6482]

Or even improve on it. If the designer has said it wasn't an intended aspect of the design what will happen when they start trying to design for sound impact? As has already been stated though we already have better sound reflection in domed stadiums and no one ever complained about them.

Even as a Seahawk fan I believe this can be taken too far and I don't know if this record shows it has or if that is a matter for debate. At some point you are causing damage to the hearing of every fan as well as the workers around the stadium. At some point I could see a lawsuit for unsafe working conditions for vendors, security, ushers, etc who cannot simply put ear plugs in and are forced to work in that sound.

Still what do you do about it? It rains in Seattle and the roof was designed to give some relief from it. Sound absorbing tiles on that part of the roof?

I just had a vision of a future NFL game where when the play started, the fans were quiet, and then at the conclusion of the play they gave the polite golf clap. It was horrible.