Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank admitted Tuesday that his team pumped in fake crowd noise during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, according to the Associated Press. The NFL is currently conducting an investigation into the Falcons, and Blank expects the league to release its official report in two to three weeks.
Falcons owner admits ‘embarrassing’ use of fake crowd noise
Falcons owner Arthur Blank admitted his team pumped in artificial crowd noise during home games, saying the situation was “beyond embarrassing.”
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
The Falcons are facing a potential fine and/or loss of draft picks if found guilty by the NFL, though Blank’s comments leave little doubt about what the NFL will find.
“I think what we’ve done in 2013 and 2014 was wrong,” Blank said. “Anything that affects the competitive balance and fairness on the field, we’re opposed to, as a league, as a club and as an owner. It’s obviously embarrassing but beyond embarrassing it doesn’t represent our culture and what we’re about.”
under investigation
Blank told the AP that the team has already dealt with the problem internally, but only in limited fashion “because we haven’t seen the report.” He did not specify what measures it took to rectify the issue.
“We’ve gotten some information from the league but until we read the full report and until they publish their findings, we can’t be totally clear,” Blank said. “We’ve talked to a lot of people and we’ve cooperated and we’ll be anxious to read the report.”
Reports surfaced Sunday that the NFL was investigating the Falcons for pumping in artificial crowd noise during home games at the Georgia Dome, often while opponents were huddled on offense. Doing so would give the team an improper advantage, according to NFL rules.
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