Gillette stadium noise vs other stadiums

[BlitzFritz]

First of all, I have season tix in the corner endzone, and we get pretty rowdy and loud there.

However, I attended the Florida State / Oklahoma game last night in Tallahassee, and that was BY FAR the LOUDEST outdoor crowd I have experienced. My ears are slightly deafened this morning (as I hustle to fly back for the Pats game today). The crowd was filled with men, woman and children, all RIVETED and STANDING for EVERY PLAY (alum side no less), screaming and doing the chop for 3.5 HOURS. I am pretty sure it was hard for Landry Jones the OK QB to hear most of the time.

I am told these big time college games are all like that.

My point - NFL crowds suck by comparison.

I guess this is due to a) corporate sections of dead wood pink hat, casual viewers, b) multi tiered seating (vs a single bowl where everyone is in one continuous section and if the front row stands up, the whole stadium stands up).

Am I right?

Are there really any NFL stadiums that rock like last night? What makes the difference?

In some small way, it made me sad

-- FRITZ

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

Don't make me have to send some Maritimer beer down there!!

All I know is that those games were played in Halifax I would be at every friggin one loud and proud.

This organization is committed to excellence, from the top down through to the coaching staff and the leaders on the team.

I certainly know most of us all know what we got going on here for at least the next five years hopefully...never take things for granted cause tomorrow we could be in the basement.

You should be excited when they make a play!

 

[shmessy]

First of all, I have season tix in the corner endzone, and we get pretty rowdy and loud there.

However, I attended the Florida State / Oklahoma game last night in Tallahassee, and that was BY FAR the LOUDEST outdoor crowd I have experienced. My ears are slightly deafened this morning (as I hustle to fly back for the Pats game today). The crowd was filled with men, woman and children, all RIVETED and STANDING for EVERY PLAY (alum side no less), screaming and doing the chop for 3.5 HOURS. I am pretty sure it was hard for Landry Jones the OK QB to hear most of the time.

I am told these big time college games are all like that.

My point - NFL crowds suck by comparison.

I guess this is due to a) corporate sections of dead wood pink hat, casual viewers, b) multi tiered seating (vs a single bowl where everyone is in one continuous section and if the front row stands up, the whole stadium stands up).

Am I right?

Are there really any NFL stadiums that rock like last night? What makes the difference?

In some small way, it made me sad

-- FRITZ

It's the tax system.

Corporate tax deductions for entertainment and dining is why NFL stadiums look so different from yesteryear.

Look at how different Schaeffer/Sullivan/Foxboro Stadium was to Gillette. Less glass boxes, one contiguous bowl. Look around at all the other stadiums built in the past 15 years in the NFL. They are movie cinemas compared to old stadiums. With separate entrances, separate concessions, there simply isn't the "We're all in this together" aspect of the old stadiums.

Looking at Jerry Jones' hermetically sealed house of glass, I can see a future where the players may play outside, but the fans all sit behind glass, like at Jai Alai or a dog racing track.

15-20,000 folks at the game today are there "on business" ( ) and may need a program to know who Wes Welker is.

 

[NEP4Life]

Since Brady's always complaining about the lack of crowd noise, he should sponsor a section, dedicated specifically to making as much noise as possible. It just needs a catchy name.

 

[Tunescribe]

Gillette CAN get loud but the stadium design is so open sound tends to disperse sound quickly. Noise was much more focused in the old Foxboro Stadium.

Cue the pink hat/corporate shill/golf buddy crowd complainers.

 

[Froob]

Gillette CAN get loud but the stadium design is so open sound tends to disperse sound quickly. Noise was much more focused in the old Foxboro Stadium.

Cue the pink hat/corporate shill/golf buddy crowd complainers.

We saw how loud it can be when the fans are pumped last year vs the jets. That was CRAZY . The stadium design is not the only reason. It would help if they had a stadium designed like the seahawks qwest field but Gillette can get loud. I know your at all the games but, it doesn't seem like fans are as rabid as say chiefs or seahawks fans. And I know people will hate me for this but Jets fans get pretty loud down there don't know about their stadium structure though. Just my 2 cents.

 

[NEP4Life]

We saw how loud it can be when the fans are pumped last year vs the jets. That was CRAZY . The stadium design is not the only reason. It would help if they had a stadium designed like the seahawks qwest field but Gillette can get loud. I know your at all the games but, it doesn't seem like fans are as rabid as say chiefs or seahawks fans. And I know people will hate me for this but Jets fans get pretty loud down there don't know about their stadium structure though. Just my 2 cents.

Kraft signed off on the stadium design; Brady should take some of his complaints about lack of noise to him.

 

[patfanken]

Shmessy, hit one aspect of the lack of noise perfectly. The other is that the stadium was build to give the customer a more open feel. I've always thought that the Pats should add about 7-10,000 more seats that would fill in some of that space, add noise, revenue, and atmosphere. The demand it there Bob. Get it going.

 

[Tunescribe]

We saw how loud it can be when the fans are pumped last year vs the jets. That was CRAZY . The stadium design is not the only reason. It would help if they had a stadium designed like the seahawks qwest field but Gillette can get loud. I know your at all the games but, it doesn't seem like fans are as rabid as say chiefs or seahawks fans. And I know people will hate me for this but Jets fans get pretty loud down there don't know about their stadium structure though. Just my 2 cents.

I've addressed this issue too many times to count. I've been to all but three Pats home games in the past 18 years plus games at many other stadiums (including Seattle and the new Giants Stadium) and can tell you that stadium design -- NOT the crowd itself -- is the primary factor determining crowd noise.

Further to this point: I was on the field during team intros for this season's first preseason game and was struck by how faint the PA sounded at field level when they were playing Ozzy's "Crazy Train." In the stands it's loud. Gillette is beautiful and functional but misses the acoustic advantages of an enclosed bowl.

 

[PatsDeb]

I've addressed this issue too many times to count. I've been to all but three Pats home games in the past 18 years plus games at many other stadiums (including Seattle and the new Giants Stadium) and can tell you that stadium design -- NOT the crowd itself -- is the primary factor determining crowd noise.

Further to this point: I was on the field during team intros for this season's first preseason game and was struck by how faint the PA sounded at field level when they were playing Ozzy's "Crazy Train." In the stands it's loud. Gillette is beautiful and functional but misses the acoustic advantages of an enclosed bowl.

Have to agree with Tune. I got to lots of games (both in the new stadium and at the old) and a lot of the problem is with the stadium, not the crowd. We are beating a dead horse, however, as those who watch on TV don't hear what they hear from other crowds.

I do my part every game, as does Tune and lots of other fans. Nothing else we can do.

 

[NEP4Life]

But the lighthouse! The lighthouse! We have to see the lighthouse!!!!!

It is a matter of life and death that every m***** f******* person in that m***** f******* stadium see that m****** f******* lighthouse!

 

[zoostation]

standing up is frowned upon by some of the doo-baggies in the rows behind me It's almost like they think they're at Symphony Hall listening to the Pops perform a Christmas concert. Once the song finishes they politely clap.

 

[Haley]

I wonder how many of these people not making noise actually know that noise = false starts.

 

[Patjew]

standing up is frowned upon by some of the doo-baggies in the rows behind me It's almost like they think they're at Symphony Hall listening to the Pops perform a Christmas concert. Once the song finishes they politely clap.

My dad and I have a running argument b/c he gets annoyed when people "stand the whole game". I tell him we should be standing or we can sit on our couch at home.

 

[Haley]

My dad and I have a running argument b/c he gets annoyed when people "stand the whole game". I tell him we should be standing or we can sit on our couch at home.

The problem I see here is there are many people who can't stand up for en entire game. People with back and leg problems, those confined to a wheelchair, etc. Plus there are children and short folks that can't see over a crowd. It works out great for the front row but the ones behind see nothing but backs.

 

[fgssand]

standing up is frowned upon by some of the doo-baggies in the rows behind me It's almost like they think they're at Symphony Hall listening to the Pops perform a Christmas concert. Once the song finishes they politely clap.

Yep - I have seen just about every home pats game since 1971 - #1 pet peeve is when I am standing (usually because people are standing in front of me which is fine) and idiots yell for me to sit down.....uh, nope, won't do it, I really came to watch the game and not some guys fat ass.

I love Gillette, miss Foxboro Stadium though ( I had first row of second section with wall to lean on in front of us). Noise at Foxboro Stadium usually wasn't much because 20,000 fans (average during the countless loser years) simply weren't cutting it.

However, there was no louder stadium on earth than the last game played at Foxboro Stadium - Snow Bowl!!!

 

[condon84]

NFL crowds do not compare to college crowds in general, but I've been to NFL games when the stadiums rocked. Back when the Phins had Jimmy Johnson as their HC, I went to several games down there and the stadium was loud as hell. I went to the Ravens/Pats game a few years ago in Baltimore and that place was deafening. Compared to the AFC Championship game that I went to in 07 in Gillette, our crowd noise is pathetic. And that was the undefeated year AFC Championship game. We were sitting in the upper deck and our section had some rowdy people, but in general it was not the crowd noise advantage that I've seen in other stadiums.

 

[102 Pat]

Once they added the horn noise mid-season last year (Vikings game?) it seemed to make a big difference in getting the crowd alive.

 

[Patjew]

The problem I see here is there are many people who can't stand up for en entire game. People with back and leg problems, those confined to a wheelchair, etc. Plus there are children and short folks that can't see over a crowd. It works out great for the front row but the ones behind see nothing but backs.

It's probably rude of me to say, but in that case maybe some of those people should stay home to watch the game. I mean that to be as unnasty as possible. Of course if someone in a wheelchair was somehow behing me (though I don't know how they'd get up the 10 rows), I'd stay seated.

Anyway, my dad is not in that category. He just prefers sitting. I enjoy screaming and panicking.

 

[FCB02062]

Very simple....Old Foxboro/Schaefer/Sullivan Stadium had many more drunken fans, less kids and families = much more raucous atmosphere and higher decibel level....

How I miss stumbling up that hill to the gates from Lot A in a drunken stupor...good times