Unraveling the Roar of the Seahawks 12s: What Makes Them Loud?

After going to most of the Seahawks games in the last 20 years, I can tell you exactly what really causes all that noise during games!

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The Seattle Seahawks 12s: The Cause of the Noise

If you ask most NFL fans in the country what stadiums they think are the loudest, they will almost always mention Seattle and the home of the 12s. Since being built in 2002, the stadium now known as Lumen Field has been one of the loudest venues in the NFL. Having a rich history with loud crowds and noise in the Kingdome, the Seahawks organization made sure their new stadium was able to take advantage of that fan characteristic. The shape of the stadium and the design of the overhang use audio engineering to basically double the sound coming from the upper decks. That can make a 70,000-seat stadium roar like there are 100,000 fans there. Even with that engineering advantage, there have been lots of games over the years where it is just not very loud at all and I know why. Obviously, it is not just the stadium design.

Fan Inspiration Makes the Difference

So why are some Seattle Seahawks games ear-splitting loud but other games not so much? I can tell you in one simple word...DEFENSE! The 12s in Seattle thrive on defense and the swagger that comes with a great one. Nothing kills the crowd more than for fans to witness the other team's offense slowly get 1st down after 1st down all day. Just look at the home games in Seattle this season as an example.

2023 Start of the Season: Seattle Seahawks vs L.A. Rams

Week 1 and opening day the 12s were ready and roaring at kickoff. There was an excitement of expectation to see the team everyone had been talking about this offseason. When the 12th Flag was raised, the crowd was going nuts and ready to punish the Rams. The game started loud but by the time the Rams had driven down the field, earned multiple first downs, and eventually scored 7, the crowd was barely a whimper and never recovered the rest of the day. The reason the fan noise never recovered was because the Seahawks defense stayed horrible eventually losing 13-30. The same can be said for most of the 2022 season, the defense was not good and neither was the crowd noise.

Seattle Comes Back Home Week 3

Week 3 was a completely different story coming back after a big win in Detroit. The defense just got stronger throughout the game, and so did the 12s. As the defense started creating stops, the crowd came alive and helped the defense causing 8 false starts by the Carolina Panthers. Fans who were there say it was the loudest crowd they remember, but I know better. So far nothing has compared to the noise of the 2012-2013 season, but neither has the defense. Yes, a hard-nosed "Lynch-like" run can also get the 12s going, but it really lies with the play of the defense. The better the defense of the Seattle Seahawks plays, the louder the 12s will be I guarantee it.