I asked this earlier but I guess it was over looked. If Gillette stadium is so tame and so quiet, why is home field advantage such a great advantage for the Patriots?
Good point, but home field advantage is more than just crowd noise. Travel, unfamiliarity with stadium, referee calls, etc., are all part of it, among many other factors. No one's really been able to find that one BIG thing. But crowd noise is also part of it for sure.
So ask yourself this, when was the last time crowd noise forced an opponent to call a time out or caused a false start at Gillette? Like it does routinely in Seattle? Not for a lonnnnnggg time, and if I missed a few, it's not often that's for sure.
Yes we've been good at home. Every team is. But I sometimes wonder how much better we could be at home if we had a stadium built for noise like that. If we did, I guarantee we would have a crowd as rowdy like that. And before you say big deal, Seattle's home field (the most extreme noise stadium I use for an example, I agree) is worth at least another half -point to one-and-a-half points OVER the typical home field a game. Not much you say? This is about a %3 to 7% better chance of winning each and every home game roughly. Imagine that edge in our pocket in close games. Unfortunately, these two factors feed off each other. And we dont have the stadium built for noise. Which is why I assume Pats fans don't scream more. Why bother? It'll just get bounced out past the lighthouse in a whisp of wind. But I don't care, we got a new stadium. Maybe if the State had ponied a bit more (any?) cash back then, we would.
I'm also surprised more new stadiums owners don't require a design study to maximize these effects as they go up. It seems it would be relatively easy. All you need to be is a better noise focusing venue or less comfortable locker room, closer home coaching side lines, or whatever, than the other stadiums who obviously don't really care about it.