Vikings

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ― How loud does it get at a Vikings game? One season ticket-holder e-mailed that his ears were "truly in pain" after the Indianapolis game. He even talked about getting rid of the seats he's had for years.

Two weeks ago, when the Vikings played the Houston Texans, 7-month-old Miles Siepman, who was attending his second game ever, tried watching it while wearing ear protection.

"He just cried the last time, so we had to take him out," said his mother Jenny Siepman.

"He wasn't too happy, so hopefully the earplugs and hat will help," said Miles' father, Dave Siepman.

Are the games too loud? WCCO-TV decided it was time to take a measurement of the volume from her seat at the Dome.

During the Vikings-Texans game, the players weren't the only ones wearing equipment. WCCO's Darcy Pohland was wearing a dosimeter.

"It basically will measure the noise dose that you will experience during the entire game," explained Julee Sylvester with the Sight and Hearing Association.

The small device records the noise levels 32 times each second, allowing Sylvester to determine the game's loudest moments with a sound level meter.

The highest reading happens before the game ever starts, but that's not due only to the crowd. The Vikings intentionally crank up the pregame volume. The franchise claims that manufactured noise is about 104 decibels. We measured 115.

Bryan Harper, senior marketing manager for the Vikings, said the team's use of that piped-in noise is strategic.

"We definitely don't want it to be quiet," he said, explaining, "If the play clock is running, we can't play any sound. So we have to take advantage of it before the play clock runs."

The Metrodome understandably gets pretty loud when the Vikings score. We measured 106 decibels for the first touchdown, 108 for the second. The third was even louder still, at 113 decibels.

It's the noise when the Vikes are on the defensive that can change the game, when the powerful roar of the crowd can act as a secret home-field advantage.

"We have intelligent fans here in Minnesota. They know when to get loud," said Harper. "That's something that we should brag about. We should feel proud about that."

So far this year, Harper says, the Vikings' opponents have had 14 false start or delay-of-game penalties.

"We're the 12th man on the field," said Chris Salinas. He takes the cliché to heart, wearing a jersey that begs Vikings fans to "MAKE NOISE". "I had to wear this shirt to get people to make the noise when we don't have the ball."

The noise was apparently too much for young Miles Siepman, even with ear protection. His grandmother had to take him somewhere quieter until the end of the game.

If it does get too loud for some fans, free ear plugs are available at fan services, but there's no sign telling you they're there. The Vikings admit they could do a better job telling fans about hearing protection.

"That's something that we need to consider and put things in place to make sure that fans are informed," said Harper.

The Vikings do encourage people to complain if they feel the noise is unreasonable.

When all was said and done, the average decibel level on the dosimeter was 90.2 decibels, which OSHA would allow workers to be exposed to for a standard eight-hour shift. That said, NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, would only recommend exposure for a couple hours.

Since there's disagreement about how loud is too loud, experts say you may want to play it safe and wear some equipment of your own -- ear plugs to protect your hearing.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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