You don’t have to be present in the Super Bowl stadium to experience significant noise during the event. A recent Apple Watch study indicates that noise levels throughout the United States rise considerably for approximately nine hours on Super Bowl Sundays.
On average, across the nation, noise exposure can reach between 1.5 and 3 decibels higher than normal—a figure that may sound minor but carries serious implications for potential hearing damage.
While one might expect the atmosphere inside the stadium to be loud during the Super Bowl, the reality is that game days are noisy no matter your location.
The Apple Hearing Study—a joint effort between the University of Michigan and Apple—utilizes the Noise app on Apple Watches worn by over 115,000 participants to gather data on noise exposure. For this specific study, researchers sought to determine if noise levels across the US surged during significant events, even for those miles away from the action.
We’ve examined noise levels from the last four Super Bowls (2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024). Our analysis focused on average noise levels six hours before and six hours after Super Bowl Sunday, comparing them to the same time on the subsequent Sunday […]
On average, we registered a 1.5 to 3 decibel uptick in noise levels among participants during the past four Super Bowl games, contrasted with measurements from the Sunday following the event. The average data from the 2021 to 2024 Super Bowls indicates that this increase commenced roughly three hours prior to kickoff and persisted for about three hours post-game.
This may not seem substantial, but keep in mind that decibels are assessed on a logarithmic scale, meaning a 3dB rise equates to twice the sound energy.
The challenge lies in our perception of sound; our ears do not perceive these changes in the same way. As a result, individuals can be subjected to potentially harmful noise levels without realizing it. The university advises utilizing the Noise app on your Apple Watch to track your exposure, and recommends wearing earplugs or noise-canceling headphones when attending loud events.
Photo by Jumping Jax on Unsplash
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