UNLV to pipe in crowd noise to enhance atmosphere at Allegiant

Only 2,000 fans will be admitted into UNLV’s first game Saturday at Allegiant Stadium against in-state rival UNR, but it will sound like the stands are much fuller.

UNLV will pipe in crowd noise into the stadium to help replicate a normal college football atmosphere, though how loud it can be is limited.

The Mountain West has set a protocol that the noise is not to exceed 70 decibels when a snap is imminent. After an exciting play, such as a touchdown or sack, the home team can push the decibel level higher.

Unlike UNLV’s opener last Saturday, when San Diego State had no fans in the stands at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, there is a balancing act of making sure fans at Allegiant Stadium aren’t drowned out by the artificial noise.

“We want to make sure the fans in the venue are having a great experience,” said Karl Feak, UNLV’s director of marketing and fan development. “And we hope with the chance to see Allegiant Stadium that experience is going to be excellent. We want to make sure what we’re doing isn’t taking away from that experience.”

Chris Pugh, UNLV’s director of facilities and sport operations, said he was told in a meeting with the Mountain West that the first week of games “went pretty well” as far as teams adjusting to the artificial noise. He said some raised the issue that having the decibel level set at a static 70 for the entire game “got annoying, but there weren’t any real complaints.”

While the 70 decibels seemed almost deafening at times at Dignity Health Sports Park, a 27,000-seat venue primarily used as the home for the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS, it’s unknown how the artificial noise will mesh with the acoustics in the 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium.

“I feel like San Diego State did a great job with the fake audience,” UNLV running back Charles Williams said. “I don’t know how it was for everyone else, but it was good enough for me. It felt like it was an actual game.”

Pugh said UNLV has the ability to change the decibel level based on which team has the ball, making it more like a normal home-field advantage.

UNLV has partnered with a startup company called HearMeCheer to help fans who can’t be there be part of the game.

HearMeCheer takes audio from fans watching at home and aggregates the sounds into an audio stream, which is then added to the artificial crowd noise.

“It’s great to be working with UNLV on this project, bringing their fans together from the comfort of their own home into the Rebels’ debut season at the amazing Allegiant Stadium,” HearMeCheer founder and CEO Elias Anderson said in a statement.

As far as the game itself, the Rebels (0-1) figure to have their work cut out for them in the Battle for the Fremont Cannon. They have won two straight in the series and hope to keep the cannon painted red, but UNR is a -13½-point favorite.

The Rebels were dominated by San Diego State 34-6. UNR (1-0) defeated Wyoming 37-34 in overtime.

Wolf Pack quarterback Carson Strong was the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for 420 yards and four touchdowns.

“It’s going to be a different game because San Diego State is more running and UNR, from evaluating their last game, they threw the ball a lot,” UNLV defensive back Aaron Lewis said. “It’s safe to assume they’re going to do the same when we play them. It’s going to be a good test.”

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.