Autzen is the loudest stadium in the Big Ten

Question

In the Ohio State vs. Oregon game, the stadium reached up to 127 decibels, one of the top five highest recorded volumes in college football. The stadium is designed with a convex shape, so the crowd's cheers bounce right back down to the field. College football show host and avid Penn State fan Josh Pate said that it’s the loudest stadium within the Big Ten. He has been on the field at stadiums to experience it firsthand, and it’s incomparable.

Comments

This is super interesting! I liked how you included that the stadium is shaped to maximize the sound, which is a main reason as to why it got so loud. Go Ducks!

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Your understanding of the architectural design of the stadium really boosts the credibility of your fact checking. It really puts it into perspective how the audience can perceive the volume to be the loudest in the nation, when really our stadium is just designed to enhance the experience.

Answer 1

This is true. After looking into it, it seems Oregon snuck it's way to the top with this last game. Even being the one of the smallest stadiums in the big ten, we were still able to produce a whopping 127 decibels. Right behind Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge who put out 130 decibels.

https://www.si.com/college/oregon/football/ranking-top-10-loudest-college-football-stadiums-oregon-ducks-autzen-stadium-too-low-lsu-tigers-penn-state

Comments

Yes indeed! Though the stadium is smaller in size the shape of it does all of the work! It creates an outstanding acoustic leading to loud roars and cheers.

Answer 2

It would be interesting to find out the effects this has on the players/coaches who are in this environment constantly. Repeated exposure to sounds above 85 decibels are not recommended. Since Autzen has reached the second highest decibel level behind LSU's Tiger Stadium in Death Valley, a study about hearing loss on football players would be intriguing. Especially for fans about how to be prepared to be in that type of stadium.

Answer 3

The Oregon v.s. Ohio State game made history with an Autzen stadium record beating attendance of 60,129 people. The crowd was able to break yet another record, topping a whopping 126 decibels.

https://thespun.com/college-football/oregons-crowd-made-autzen-stadium-history-against-ohio-state

Comments

This is such an awesome record to break, along with the amount of people in the stadium. I think adding the shape of the stadium was super important because it was a big contributor to the sound.

Answer 4

This claim is in fact true. After looking up Autzen stadium several articles touched on the fact Autzen stadium was designed to waste little space and fans could be closer together, meaning the design would generate a louder crowd. This is what one of the designers of the Autzen stadium remodel, Christopher Mitchell told in an interview with sports illustrated. Found here: https://www.si.com/college/2014/09/05/stadium-spotlight-autzen-stadium-oregon#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%20is%20like%20a%20double,All%20the%20energy%20is%20concentrated.%E2%80%9D&text=With%20just%20one%20deck%20that,of%20glassed%2Din%20luxury%20seating

It is no news that Autzen stadium is loud but after The Oregon vs Ohio state game, it has been confirmed that they are the loudest stadium in the top 10. Taking a look at an article  by Mark Lantz, a sports broadcaster for Sports Illustrated. We can see Autzen stadium placed at number 2 at 127 decibels but LSU who takes up number 1 at 130 decibels is not in the Big Ten according to NBC https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/which-teams-are-in-the-big-ten-in-the-2024-football-season 

Therefore Autzen stadium remains the loudest stadium in the Big Ten. Article: https://www.si.com/college/oregon/football/ranking-top-10-loudest-college-football-stadiums-oregon-ducks-autzen-stadium-too-low-lsu-tigers-penn-state 

Answer 5

This claim is true. The article included from Oregon Ducks on SI, highlights the Oregon vs. Ohio State football game where Oregon fans cheered and screamed so loud that the decibel level reached 127, which is the highest it has ever been in college football history. Another source backing up this claim comes from Oregonlive.com, and the article states “Autzen was named the loudest stadium in the country and 10th-rowdiest overall”. With statistics and many other articles saying the same thing, this claim stands true. 

Oregonian/OregonLive, J. F. | T. (2024, October 10). Oregon’s Autzen, Oregon State’s reser rank among college football’s rowdiest stadiums. oregonlive. https://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/2024/10/oregons-autzen-oregon-states-reser-rank-among-college-footballs-rowdiest-stadiums.html#:~:text=Autzen%20Stadium%20and%20Reser%20Stadium,was%20judged%20the%2041st%2Drowdiest.