When Steve Gleason blocked a punt during the Saints’ return to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, the roar that followed became part of New Orleans history.
Twenty years later, fans who were there still describe it as unlike anything they’ve heard since. But just how loud can the Superdome actually get?
The science behind the Superdome’s roar
The Dome itself also helps amplify the experience.
Marc Cordes with Commercial Acoustics says the enclosed stadium, curved roof and hard surfaces reflect sound back toward the field rather than allowing it to escape. That can make the field one of the loudest places in the building and create a real communication challenge for an opposing offense.
Commercial Acoustics ranks the Superdome third on its NFL Loudness Index, citing peak readings around 130 decibels.
A normal conversation typically measures around 60 to 70 decibels. During our demonstration with a sound pressure level meter, a raised voice reached nearly 90 decibels.
At its loudest, the Superdome has reportedly reached around 130 decibels.
That difference is much bigger than it sounds. Decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale, meaning every 10-decibel increase represents 10 times the sound energy.
How loud was the Gleason block?
There isn’t a verified decibel reading from the exact moment Gleason blocked the punt on Sept. 25, 2006.
But fans who were there remember more than just noise. They describe vibrating seats and floors, constant screaming and an energy that seemed to move through the building.
“It was like an eruption of sound inside the Dome,” fan Kat Ford said.
“It was a feeling that couldn’t be recreated,” fan Randy Smith said.
For a city still recovering from Katrina, the roar also represented something a sound meter couldn’t capture: the Saints were home said James Hayden.
And could today’s Superdome get even louder?
Cordes believes the building has the acoustics to do it.
“We have the structure to do it,” he said. “We just need those moments. We need that pop.”
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