Packers Complete Final Phase of Lambeau Field Expansion

Lambeau Field can now hold more Cheeseheads than ever. Last month, the Green Bay Packers’ home stadium completed its third expansion of seating capacity. The expansion, which boosts Lambeau Field’s seating capacity to 80,750 — an increase of 7,000, with the new seats added in the south end zone — makes the stadium the NFL’s third largest. Filling in the last gap in Lambeau Field’s bowl architecture with the new seats also called for a redesign of the stadium’s sound system.

A third renovation increased Lambeau Field seating capacity to 80,750.

System designer Anthony James Partners and AV-systems installer/integrator Pro Media Ultrasound were able to remove the longer-throw point-source loudspeakers that had previously covered the south-end-zone seating and replace them with distributed Danley Sound Labs Synergy Horn loudspeakers mounted less obtrusively to the new superstructure.

“We knew going into the original system overhaul that the structural completion of the south end zone would give us the fully symmetrical system we wanted,” explains Larry Lucas, director of audio engineering for Richmond, VA-based Anthony James Partners and designer of both the previous and current phases of the Lambeau Field audio system. “Not only did it allow us to cover the original south-end-zone seating, it also allowed us to cover the 7,000 new seats as well.”

The renovated audio system comprises more than 100 new Danley Synergy Horn loudspeakers: 26 SM-100s, 31 SM-96s, 42 SH-MINIs, six SH-46s, 21 SH-21s, and two of the company’s flagship SH-50s. Crown amplifiers power the system, with speaker control from a BSS London processor. These were added to the existing Danley system, which was made up of 12 loudspeaker towers, each containing a Genesis Horn GH-60 for primary coverage, an SH-100 for fill, and a TH-118 subwoofer.

Closing the bowl at the south end added 7,000 end-zone seats and required a new sound system.

The size of the new components affected their placement and overall system design and performance. “Danley’s small-format loudspeakers gave us the opportunity to tuck them under the soffits and under the new deck,” Lucas explains. “Importantly, we did not have to place any loudspeakers on the front of the new deck, which is prime advertising real estate.

“The team has received a lot of comments from season-ticket holders in the south end zone,” he continues. “They’re very pleased with the sound of the new system. As a system designer, it was especially gratifying to see the whole stadium come together. It was exciting to commission and verify that, as planned, all of Lambeau Field is now seamless.”