Study ranks Empower Field among top 10 loudest NFL stadiums

A study by the acoustical engineers at Commercial Acoustics ranked all 30 NFL stadiums on a 100-point loudness scale, factoring in architectural acoustics, sustained crowd baseline noise, peak event noise and operational design. The result? Arrowhead came in at No. 1 with a score of 97, the only stadium in the league that holds a Guinness World Record for noise, hitting 142.2 decibels during a 2014 game against the Patriots. For reference, that’s louder than a jet engine at 100 feet.

The good news for Denver? Empower Field at Mile High came in at No. 8 with an 87, making it one of the top ten loudest stadiums in the NFL. That’s ahead of Pittsburgh (86), Detroit (84), and plenty of other places that like to talk about how loud they get. The full top 10: Kansas City (97), Seattle (95), New Orleans (93), Minnesota (92), Buffalo (91), Philadelphia (90), Green Bay (88), Denver (87), Pittsburgh (86) and Detroit (84). Seattle actually ranked No. 1 on a per-1,000-seats loudness index, proving that the 12th Man isn’t just a marketing slogan.

Mile High may not be Arrowhead, but an 87 out of 100 isn’t exactly a library. Time to remind the rest of the league that Denver is still one of the hardest places to play in the NFL.