Why could noise levels at Lumen Field in Seattle affect a World Cup match?

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SAN FRANCISCO: The Socceroos arrive at Lumen Field in Seattle for their decisive Group D clash against an unbeaten United States on the field – thanks in large part to a not-so-secret weapon.

Lumen, home of the current Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks and temporarily renamed Seattle World Cup Stadium, is known around the world as one of the loudest stadiums in sports. For a time, it held a Guinness World Record for the loudest noise recorded in an outdoor stadium, when the roar of the crowd reached 137 decibels.

Lumen Field is built with hard surfaces to generate as much noise as possible. AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson

This is the level you would get from standing near an airplane as it takes off, louder than an ambulance siren and well above the level comfortable for the human ear. The grounds, built in 2002, were specifically designed this way.

Best known for the “Beast Quake” in January 2011, when Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch scored on a 67-yard touchdown, breaking nine tackles along the way in an iconic moment in the NFL. The crowd’s reaction to the fourth quarter game was so loud and intense that it triggered local seismic sensors near the stadium, which was recorded by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

“If you weren’t in that stadium to watch it and listen to it, I feel like you were shortchanged by watching the video. It was pretty loud,” Lynch later told ESPN of that moment.

Taylor Swift’s fans did the same thing at the venue during her 2023 Eras tour, when a local seismologist confirmed that screaming “Swifties” had generated seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3-magnitude earthquake.

Not only does it add scale to the atmosphere, it can also have a physical impact on the game. Players regularly expressed how difficult it was to communicate due to the noise coming from the stands on the field, and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he had to abandon play calls and switch to hand signals when he played there.

The United States has an unbeaten record at the stadium, having played there six times – although the last match was a decade ago, in a 2-1 Copa America win against Ecuador.

Of the three members of the Australian squad who play in Major League Soccer, only 18-year-old Lucas Herrington has played for Lumine, making his debut for the Colorado Rapids against the Seattle Sounders. The stadium, which will seat 69,000 for the Australia match, was less than half full that day.

Built for noise

Paul Allen, the late Seahawks owner and co-founder of Microsoft with Bill Gates, played a key role in designing Lumen Field to ensure it created maximum crowd noise despite being an open structure.

Despite its large capacity, it has one of the smallest footprints of all NFL stadiums, with seats close to the field, stacked sharply and designed to direct noise from the stands directly onto the field.

About 70% of the seats are covered by large, curved canopies that reflect sound rather than letting it escape from the stadium, and it is full of hard surfaces. Concrete walls and aluminum benches cause sound to reverberate around the floor.

What could a win at Lumen Field mean for each side?

The Athletic World Cup newspaper predicted that the Australian national team would see an 84 percent change to qualify for exit from the group stage. Although this is a highly anticipated contest, a win for either team in Seattle could secure first place in Group D before the match is over.

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If Australia defeats the United States and Paraguay draws or loses to Türkiye, the Socceroos will finish first. This means Australia will make its way to the knockout stages that were reserved for the United States, and the team will remain in the San Francisco Bay Area, where it has been set up since May 31. That match will be held on July 2 (AEST) against one of the third-placed teams that advance through the group stage.

Likewise, if the United States wins and Türkiye draws or loses to Paraguay, it will finish first. A draw in the USA-Australia match would bring both teams to four points – a tally that has historically been enough to qualify for the knockout rounds, either as one of the top two or as one of the eight best third-placed teams.

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Nick Ralston is deputy editor and investigative editor at The Sydney Morning Herald. He has previously spent time as news editor, justice editor and world editor. Contact via X or email. From our partners

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