Home field advantage is a crucial part of football. Players are more familiar with the surface, they can sleep in their own beds the night before, and they have the comfort of their own locker room and training facilities. But the loudest NFL stadiums bring a different kind of uncomfortableness to the table.
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The reigning MVP of the league, Patrick Mahomes, recently talked about the loudest road stadiums to play in. While Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium has long been heralded as the loudest in the NFL, Mahomes named Seattle's Lumen Field and Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium as the two he's had trouble conveying signs to his offensive line in.
Mahomes should know about deafening sounds inside stadiums. And who better to ask than the guy who's played in every big matchup possible, even if he's has never played a road playoff game.
But figuring out which NFL stadiums are the loudest isn't as simple as determining the loudest fan base. If fans are the musicians, stadiums are the instrument. Without them, fans wouldn't be able to create the beautiful orchestra that is the humming of 70,000 yells. It's never easy to win in the NFL no matter where you play. However, when your NFL team plays at one of these 10 stadiums, not only will they have an extremely difficult time trying to win, their ears will be ringing on the ride home.
10. AT&T Stadium
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The personal monument to Jerry Jones, I mean the Dallas Cowboys, AT&T Stadium is a state-of-the-art venue. The Cowboys are America's team, meaning fans from all over the country flock to Arlington to cheer as loud as they can.
Expect Jerryworld to especially erupt when rivals like the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles or New York Giants are in town.
9. Lucas Oil Stadium
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Lucas Oil Stadium opened in 2008 and immediately became a place Indianapolis Colts opponents hate to play. Colts fans are some of the most passionate in the league and aren't afraid to make their presence felt. It's so loud in Lucas Oil that even Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has joked that fake crowd noise is pumped into the stadium.
8. U.S. Bank Stadium
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Playing in a dome naturally increases crowd noise. Minnesota Vikings fans take it to another level with the invigorating "Skol" chant that instills fear into anyone on the opposing sideline.
It's also pretty cool that U.S. Bank Stadium looks like a spaceship crash landed in downtown Minneapolis and decided to just hang out. For what it's worth, the noise level during the Stefon Diggs "Minneapolis Miracle" in the playoffs reached 120.1 decibels, just quieter than a jet engine at takeoff.
7. Acrisure Stadium
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Formerly known as Heinz Field, Acrisure Stadium is always a rowdy one. Pittsburgh is a football city through and through, which makes the Pittsburgh Steelers the most popular team in town by far. Steelers fans prove it by waving Terrible Towels from kickoff until the clock strikes zero.
It might be comfortable in the stands, but the black and gold faithful makes the opposing team feel anything but.
6. Gillette Stadium
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The palace Tom Brady and Bill Belichick built. New England Patriots fans have seen their fair share of playoff wins over the years. They brave the rain, sleet and snow to see their beloved Pats chase another ring or at the very least, another undefeated season against the New York Jets.
It's scientifically proven that yelling in sweatshirts with the sleeves cut off increases your voice by 10 decibels.
5. State Farm Stadium
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The home of the Arizona Cardinals only seats 63,400, making it the second smallest stadium in the NFL. However, Cardinal fans couldn't care less about how many of them there are because they always keep the energy level high.
State Farm Stadium led the league in forced false starts from 2006 to 2018. That deserves a banner in my opinion
4. Caesars Superdome
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It's weird to refer to the cathedral of the New Orleans Saints as the Caesars Superdome. It's one of many recent stadium name changes (we'll get to another one farther down the list), and it doesn't feel right compared to Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Anyway, The Big Easy loves its football and Saints fans aren't shy about it in the slightest. And to get an idea of how loud it gets, during the NFC Championship Game against the Rams in 2019, the press box was shaking and part of a ceiling collapsed because it was so loud.
3. Lambeau Field
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Lambeau Field has everything you could want in an intimidating home field. It's freezing, windy and fans can't get enough of their team. Throw in roaring Green Bay Packer fans (who love to catch their players Lambeau Leaping), and you have a place everyone wants to avoid come playoff time.
2. Lumen Field
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When will teams stop disrespecting fans by changing stadium names? The Seattle Seahawks ditched CenturyLink Field when CenturyLink rebranded to Lumen Technologies in 2020. Nonetheless, it will always be the 12th Man regardless of who the sponsor is.
Seahawks fans are commonly referred to as some of the loudest in the league. They proved it by reaching a decibel level of 137.6 during a 2013 matchup against the Saints, which set a Guinness World Record for the loudest stadium in the world. Oh, and remember Marshawn Lynch's "Beast Quake" run that literally shook the ground because it was so loud?
The only louder stadium surpassed Seattle's feat a year later.
1. Arrowhead Stadium
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Kansas City Chiefs fans have had plenty to cheer about since Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback in 2018. However, KC fans have had a rambunctious reputation long before the Mahomes era, and no, the use of "reputation" there has nothing to do with the Taylor Swift frenzy in Kansas City right now.
Back in 1990, Chiefs fans were cheering so loud that Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway complained to the officials, who threatened to penalize Kansas City if fans didn't quiet down. As you can guess, fans respected Elway so much they happily followed his wishes because he asked so nicely. Psych!
Arrowhead cemented itself as not just the loudest NFL stadium, but the loudest stadium in the world when the decibel level reached a deafening 142.2 in a 2014 game against the Patriots. After that, the "loudest NFL stadium" crown has been worn by the Chiefs Kingdom.
There's a back-and-forth between Seahawk and Chiefs fans about who actually has the loudest stadium. The Chiefs have the title secured. For now.
