The
NFL is
relaxing its strict rules on crowd noise for the new season as part of an initiative to improve the in-stadium experience for millions of fans, chief marketing officer Mark Waller says.
The league will allow home clubs to incite the 12th man with visual noise meters and scoreboard messages such as "Let's hear it!" and "Raise the roof!" while visiting teams call plays. Clubs must cease when the play clock hits 15 seconds. As before, fans can't use noisemakers (no vuvuzelas). And teams are not allowed to pump in artificial crowd noise.
The NFL previously prohibited clubs from using these messages during the 40-second play clock out of concern they'd interfere with visiting teams. But the league thinks coach-to-quarterback radio communications and silent snap counts are advanced enough, Waller says.
"We as a league are working harder to balance what's right for fans and what's right for playing football."
Commissioner Roger Goodell says the NFL needs to make the stadium experience safer and more exciting to lure fans tempted to watch for free from the comfort of home. The NFL's attendance fell 2.4% to 16.7 million in 2009 from 17.1 million in '08.
To enable fans to better track other games, all 31 stadiums are able to show the RedZone Channel on scoreboards before, during and after games. Handheld devices such as Fan Vision will allow fans to watch all games from their seat. The Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots and Washington Redskins are installing HD boards similar to the Dallas Cowboys' board.
