AAC atmosphere: Why Stars games are the loudest sporting event in DFW

I have attended games for every major DFW sports team over the past 5 years. Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mavs at AAC. Rangers at Globe Life. Stars at AAC. The Stars playoff atmosphere is the loudest, most intense sporting experience in the metroplex. Here is why.

The building: The American Airlines Center seats 18,532 for hockey. That is roughly 18,000 enclosed in a space with a low ceiling relative to AT&T Stadium's 80,000-seat cavern. Sound does not dissipate. It echoes and amplifies. The acoustic properties of the AAC make it physically louder per capita than any other venue in DFW.

The crowd: Hockey fans are different. There is no casual Stars fan at a playoff game. Every person in the building understands offsides, icing, and power plays. The crowd reacts in unison to plays that a casual fan would not notice — a blocked shot, a perfectly timed poke check, a goaltender save that prevented a grade-A chance.

The traditions:

• "STARS" chant during the national anthem (the crowd screams "STARS" during the lyric "...oh say does that star-spangled")
• Goal celebration: "Dallas Stars!" chant after every goal
• The Dallas Stars Ice Girls and intermission entertainment keep energy up during breaks

The numbers: Decibel readings at Stars playoff games have exceeded 115 dB per in-arena measurements. That is louder than a rock concert. AT&T Stadium during a Cowboys game typically registers 100-108 dB. The difference of 7-15 dB is significant because the decibel scale is logarithmic — every 10 dB increase is perceived as roughly twice as loud.

Why it matters: The NHL has noted the Dallas crowd as one of the best in the league. The Athletic's 2025 arena atmosphere rankings placed AAC for Stars games in the top 5 across the NHL.

Sources:

• In-arena decibel measurements
• The Athletic — arena atmosphere rankings 2025
• americanairlinescenter.com — seating capacity

DFW, what say you?