Falcons pump in crowd noise into Georgia Dome

[Brian Fein]

Apparently this is the latest in the NFL "all teams cheating" scandal.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12262464/nfl-investigating-atlanta-falcons-fake-crowd-noise-georgia-dome

Talk about "everyone does it..."
I've heard it myself at Dolphins' games. 
A quick YouTube search shows this, from FedEx field.  Pretty telling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2wlgGmCwRo

The noise is clearly coming from that speaker.  Whether its recorded noise played back or live noise being broadcast is unclear.

And then this - Marv Albert and Steve Kerr discussing how TD Garden is notorious for playing fake crowd noise during Celtics games:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnR8F_YjfD0

I fully believe that EVERY stadium in EVERY sport does this, to some extent.  I have heard it at Panthers' games, where there is loud cheering and crowd noise embedded in the background of their "after goal" horn/song.  Here's the track of the Flyers' goal song - you can hear crowd cheering in the background:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtM3Ch3K8NQ

Of course there's a difference between loud noise on defense on 3rd and 7, or after a scoring play.  The NFL has rules about playing distracting sounds during gameplay, and this could definitely give the team an advantage at home.

The Falcons were 3-5 at home, and 3-5 on the road this season.  Not sure it was such a great advantage for them after all...

[Phishfan]

I accused Jacksonville of this while I was up there this year. I started hearing crowd noise and could not fathom where it was from. Jags fans I saw were silent and the crowd was largely Dolphins fans.

[Thundergod]

Suspend the new coach for one year and take a draft pick away. They broke the rules. 

[MikeO]

Suspend the new coach for one year and take a draft pick away. They broke the rules. 

You can make that case. That's isn't laughable

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

The lack of attention this obvious cheating is getting while in comparison to amount of attention that Ne is getting with absolutely no evidence of tampering that could have easily have occurred due to leak or change in temp is getting is proof that it isn't about integrity  but witch hunt based on the team

[Brian Fein]

The difference is -

Falcons were 6-8

Patriots were playing for the league championship

If you don't think there's a difference there, you're being naive.

[Dave Gray]

The lack of attention this obvious cheating is getting while in comparison to amount of attention that Ne is getting with absolutely no evidence of tampering that could have easily have occurred due to leak or change in temp is getting is proof that it isn't about integrity  but witch hunt based on the team

Also repeated offenses make it less likely to buy into bullshit about changing temperatures.  If the Falcons are cheating, handle it.  But it doesn't get the Pats off the hook.

[Brian Fein]

There was a physics professor who went online and showed that the temp change would have had to be 86 degrees F to cause that much pressure change.  That claim is absurd.

[Phishfan]

To get this back on topic, I've always thought it would be great to be the guy at the stadium that pumps the crowd up with the music, horn sounds, chants, etc. I'd love to see how the rule on this reads officially. At what point does the PA need to be cut off? What is and isn't permitted in terms of sounds and music? I'd love to know if the Falcons are accused of specific noise violations or if it was timing violations. 

[Brian Fein]

^^ I found the following excerpt from the NFL rule book on, of all places, the Seattle Times web site.  It was posted in 2006, so some rules may have varied since then:

NFL rules on crowd noise
Crowd Noise While the League does not wish to place restrictions on spontaneous crowd noise or to diminish fan...

Crowd Noise

While the League does not wish to place restrictions on spontaneous crowd noise or to diminish fan enjoyment in our sport, it is each club's responsibility to exert proper control over cheerleaders and mascots (including noise-making specialists hired exclusively for that purpose), use of scoreboards, message boards, etc. Artificial or manufactured crowd noise in NFL stadiums has increased to the extent that teams have notified the league office that they have experienced difficulty communicating within their bench area as well as on the field.

(1) Club-Controlled Sound: The home club does not have the prerogative to decide if such sound hampers signal calling. While spontaneous crowd noises may be beyond immediate control, noise of any kind (music, horns, gongs, drums, etc.) that is under club control must cease when the play clock (40 or 25 second) is running and the visiting team is in possession of the ball. Flagrant attempts by cheerleaders, mascots or the public-address system to encourage crowd noise for the purpose of disrupting the visiting team's offense while the play clock is running is prohibited. The use of noise meters or such messages as "Noise!," "Let's hear it!," "Raise the Roof," "Let's go Crazy," "Pump it up," "12th Man" are prohibited at any time during the game. These examples are not limited to the foregoing, but also would include similar messages that encourage crowds to make random noise in order to disrupt the opposition. The prohibitions specified in this section also apply during kicking plays.

Exception: Any conventional cheerleader or mascot actions or the use of the scoreboard or message board for acceptable cheers such as "Defense!" and "Push 'em back!" must be stopped when the huddle breaks and/or the offensive team moves to the line of scrimmage.

(2) "Wave": Club-controlled efforts to start the "Wave" cheer, through the use of cheerleaders or message boards — even if the actions are stopped when the visiting team breaks the huddle — are a violation of the crowd noise policy.

(3) Noise-Making Devices: Klaxons, megaphones, bullhorns, whistles and other noisemakers of any kind are not permitted in stadium.

(4) Field-Level Speakers: The number of field-level speakers must be limited to a maximum of four. They must be placed between the goal lines and the 20-yard lines, and be pointed away from the bench area and the playing field. All sound from such speakers must cease when play clock starts for the visiting team's possession.

(5) Mascots: Team mascots must stay behind the six-foot white border at all times during the game (they may be on the field at appropriate times during the pregame and at halftime when players are not on the field), and they are prohibited from engaging in any acts of taunting opposing players, coaches, and game officials. In the event of violations, teams employing the mascots will be subject to significant fines.

(6) Videos: Video clips may be shown during pregame, halftime, postgame, between quarters, and after a score by the home team, as long as the content is in good taste and not derogatory to the visiting team. At no time may such clips be shown while the play clock or game clock is running.

Clubs should be aware of the playing rule adopted in 1989 which establishes a set of procedures, including loss of timeouts or 5-yard penalty on the defense, to handle the problem of crowd noise which prevents the offense from hearing its signals.