Lets talk Pitt football for a while to get the sour BB taste out of our mouths.
I hadn’t seen this Pitt LiveWire video of the Southside War Room when the class of 2016′ faxes start rolling in. Narduzzi looks like a little kid on Christmas morning and that is a nice bit of Jamie Dixon in the hallway watching HCPN talk to a George Hill.
Here is some yapping about how Pitt plans to fill the seats at Heinz. good luck and a successful program needs three things; a good coaching staff, good players and great fan support… well, two out of three isn’t too bad is it?
“Athletic director Scott Barnes set the bar high for everyone — coaches, players, the ticket office and fans — when he revealed Monday an ambitious plan to sell a record number of Pitt full-season packages at Heinz Field: 53,775, an increase of more than 19.5 percent from last year. Two years ago, Pitt sold 40,696.
“It’s a lofty goal,” he said, noting the Pitt record of 53,433 was set in 2003.”
Now – note that item about the season ticket record being under Walt Harris in 2003… now look at the sidebar next to the main article and you see this:
Here are the number of Pitt football season tickets sold from 2010-15:
2010 49,013
2011 44,341
2012 41,545
2013 52,601 (Paul Chryst)
2014 40,696
2015 45,000
2016 ??,???
That is very interesting to me – for all the talk about Dave Wannstedt being “the face of the program” and everyone loving his being the HC at Pitt – his tenure never translated into a record ticket sales. I’m sure that there was an increase from ’09 to ’10, especially since we were coming off that 10 win season… but no record. That just shows to me the very real fickle face of the fans.
Chrsyt’s time here really showed the fans frustration with his being the HC – after that 6-7 season in 2012 we fans thought we’d have big wins on the horizon ans spent money to see it… but even with the winning season in 2013 when we went 7-6 the season ticket sales tanked.
Which brings us to the next natural topic when we Pitt fans get together and talk about ticket sales, attendance and all things Heinz field. Yes, an on-campus stadium and how it is just around the corner because the Pitt administration is keeping it a state secret so as to not drive up the land prices in Oakland even though they have flat out said it wasn’t going to happen.
Chris Peak of rivals.com does weekly podcasts and they are great for Pitt info and opinions and you should make it part of your weekly Pitt fix. Anyway, in the latest he talks about an on-campus and its possibilities in his latest bit found here. Listen to it all sometime but for the purpose of this article start at minute 25:00 and hear what he has to say.
He states something that I hear all the time from Pitt players and their parents yet Pitt fans just refuse to believe it – that they really do enjoy playing at Heinz and on the same field that the Steelers do. we know the kids are jazzed about sharing the facilities on the Southside with our NFL brethren.
A prime question that has never really been seriously asked and answered is do Pitt fans and other people in WPA not come to games because we play at Heinz? Do you think so? I sure as hell don’t. We may want our own stadium and want it to be smaller and more Pitt-centric, but the lack of one is way down on the list of reason we are continually embarrassed by the sheer volume of empty seats for most games.
AD Scott Barnes isn’t at the point to say Heinz isn’t working and may never be. Growing the fan base is obviously the thrust of Barnes attentions at this point and, if we believe the Pitt admin when they talk about this issue, the sales have gone well so far. It certainly was no coincidence that the season ticket mailers arrived at season ticket holders homes on Feb 4th – the day after we landed the best recruiting class in 10 years.
Chris’ salient point is an excellent one; why should Pitt spend upwards of $500,000,000 for a on campus stadium when you can spend a fraction of that directly on things that would directly benefit the football program and show positive results on the field of play? Recruiting costs, competitive player stipends, more money to get fans involved at the grass roots level. It will be much moire effective to spend money to help Pitt grow the Alumni Association and maybe more than 2% will pony up some money for the athletic programs when they are asked to.
Pitt will never use endowment money for a stadium and the “Great White Whales” of donors to the university, those who have given huge sums to the University’s general and endowments fund could care less about an on-campus stadium… it just isn’t in the forefront of important mission areas for our university and those who financially support it in big ways.
Peak hits the nail on the head when he states that Barnes’ approach now and in the future is “Fit the fans to the stadium and not the stadium to the stands”. That is what Pitt will do and an AD with Barnes’ energy and personal charisma (and he has that in spades) will make a sea change in the attitudes of long-time Pitt fans and those casual fans who need a reason to get behind the program and the team.
Anyway, Peak’s take on the stadium issue runs from 25:00 – to approx 41:30 then he shares his opinions of who he feels may see the field in 2016 from both the 2016 and the 2015 classes.
In case you want to read the transcript of Scott Barnes being interviewed about this and other subjects here it is. I think this is interesting because everyone i have talked to since last spring Game loved it being held at Highmark. I guess this issue wasn’t one of the survey questions floated out on how to make fans more engaged. Looks like they acted unilaterally here.
Q: Will the spring game be at Heinz Field this year?
SB: It will be. Absolutely. We looked at this and I remember seeing and studying, coming into this, the highlights from the spring game at Highmark and it was packed, but it holds 4-5,000 people. If we’re going to be what we want to be, that number has to be multiples of that for a spring game. We’re really looking forward to making a big splash back at Heinz Field and getting, what that number is is yet to be determined, but a large number of our folks for our game.
Q: Have people asked for the game back at Heinz Field?
SB: Not specifically. In my own mind, you see what you want to be. Highmark is a great venue, but it’s not big enough for what we want to be. It’s just not what we want to do. We want to have multiples of that in terms of what our attendance is at spring games. Moving back to Heinz Field is a natural progression.
Pitt continues to load its football student/athletes onto All-Conference Academic lists:
“They also found plenty of success in the classroom in Narduzzi’s debut season.
Led by four former WPIAL standouts, the Panthers placed five players on the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Academic Football Team that was announced yesterday afternoon. The honorees included junior offensive tackle Adam Bisnowaty, junior tight end Scott Orndoff, junior wide receiver Dontez Ford, sophomore cornerback Avonte Maddox and freshman safety Jordan Whitehead.”
I do love it when FR and so players get these honors. adapting to the rigors of the new standards in academics, the higher level of classroom work and the burden of having to pull your weight as a player isn’t at all easy, yet we have youngsters do it on a continual basis. so, Congrats to all but especially young Mr. Whitehead for remembering why he’s at Pitt in the first place.
Speaking of academic success our 57 year old ex-Center on the football team, Artie Rowell, has been awarded a post-graduate scholarship by the ACC. Way to go Artie!
“…recipients must demonstrate “outstanding performance both in athletic competition and in the classroom and intend to further their education through postgraduate studies at an ACC institution.”
Rowell started 27 career games at center for the Panthers and served as a team captain in 2015, as well as a former president of Pitt’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He also serves as one of 15 nationwide student athlete representatives who vote on governance rule change propositions under the NCAA Division I autonomy process.
Rowell graduated from Pitt with a degree in business finance and is currently pursuing an MBA at the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.”
Always nice to see Women’s volleyball players from behind but check out Jamie Dixon in this clip – you’d have thought we’d have learned from the catchphrase of Major II and avoided any talk of the future at all.
Reed Kohberger
Now if only I’d married that gal in high school back in 1967….
Seeing fans enter in coats and ties. Cigar smoke and boiling hot dog smells. As Blessed to have those experiences as those at Pitt Stadium. Going to Pitt was easily the best experience of my life because it afforded so many other experiences. God I love Pitt!
What I do know is the strategic efforts at the top 25 programs to keep their alumni engaged and a lot of that focuses on getting them to go to games on campus. The game day experience on campus helps recruiting and keeps alumni engaged with their campus. We can never have a true battle of the bands as the team walks to the stadium.
The next thing you will see is alumni keeping their email accounts for life. What better way to keep an alumni engaged, than remind them every time they get an email where they came from. For years, administrations thought it was too expensive to maintain…until they actually studied it. Thinking evolves, hopefully. Engagement = cash.
50,000 on campus visits 6-7 times per year would be great. Fans spend cash at a lot of university owned properties. Whoever has thrown $500M for a stadium and $100M for maintenance needs to re-think those numbers. Definitely not even close. One of my offices sits in a 100k capacity stadium and I know the annual maintenance budget for the entire stadium because of the rent I pay to office there. Depending on repairs and maintenance needs, it is less than $10m. I can also tell you that there are tours of the facility every single day that bring folks on to campus. It is used every day to engage alumni. It is used for commencements, a few concerts, dinners, recruiting, receptions lacrosse, high school games, administrative offices,etc. The list goes on and on…Ohhh, and it used to be the home for the highest gpa students to live there. So the argument that it is for football only is equally misinformed, sorry. Mixed use is more appropriate. Did I mention an outreach in suites for private partnerships? Another great revenue driver that gets sponsors on campus and keeps corporate involvement strong.
Again, I wouldn’t say this is a now priority for Pitt. What I am saying is that it needs to be considered if you want to be a part of the college athletic “arms race”. Heinz Field is not a Pitt brand, it is a Steeler brand.
I get all the arguments against the stadium too. I just don’t bury my head and discard things because of the way the wind is blowing. Can we talk about 2017 recruiting yet?
Cheerleading ain’t my style enemyterritory, for that you need to visit Pitt LiveWire.
If I ever move back to the city i’ll buy a place in Oakland or Shadyside just to be close to Pitt and CMU for the educational and cultural offerings the two schools present.
I urge everyone who hasn’t been there to take a few hours and walk around – it is truly a vibrant and beautiful urban campus. Pitt’s policy of re-use of the historical Beaux-Arts bldgs is fantastic and they have gotten national nad international recognition for doing so.
As far as the OCS issue – wbb is correct in that if Pitt builds any stadium at all it will not be in Oakland… but somewhere outside of populated areas. point to consider here is that wherever Pitt does build one it will actually be “on-campus” in that Pitt will own, operate and control the land it sits on.
It appears that Jamie’s road to improvement just got tougher as the ACC released their next two seasons of schedules:
The Pitt men’s basketball team will play home and away games against Louisville, Syracuse, North Carolina and Virginia in 2016-17, the ACC announced Friday.
In 2017-18, the Panthers will play home and away against Louisville, Syracuse, Miami and Duke.
Ouch!!
All other ACC teams will be played once in that season.
Recruit better players or get pounded to the basement…
If this season keeps heading downward, the Peterson Events Center may get a new nickname -> RE-PETE (as in the downward spiral continues to repeat itself).
Once again, the highest attendance figures are at Heinz, not at Pitt Stadium
2) It would not just cost $500M to build a stadium in Oakland … but probably as much as 3 times the cost. You have to buy properties, raze buildings, landscape and create some type of passage way to the stadium. Costs would be prohibitive.
Why do so many of you afraid of reality?
He left when Forbes Field closed. I believe he reopened on rt. 19 north of Wexford. Always wanted to stop to see him.
dhuffdaddy, I don’t deny the positive aspects of having an OCS. But unfortunately the obstacles are overwhelming right now and for the immediate future and I fear will get even more difficult as time goes by. It won’t even be a part of the Athletic departments 10 year strategic plan.
—-J Franklin
I hope he and his lack-of-coaching stick around for years and years.
H2P
I don’t consider Hazelwood “on campus” unless we do what WVU did and create a second campus with a transportation system.
Of all of them, I think long term the “Top of the Hill” makes the most sense. Most of our athletic facilities are there and land in that area would be the least expensive to acquire.
It is a tough walk, but at least you can see the campus from there. It would take a massive effort to create any type of transportation in and out of the area, and would have to be part of a major redevelopment plan, as would any stadium plan.
I just don’t see any of it happening, for a long, long time if ever.
My only friend tells the story about, when he was a senior, Cheech asked him “How many years have you been at Pitt…6?”
We are positioned in the thick of an urban setting and on a steep hill to boot!!!
May be time to face the facts……………
There is a game tomorrow when Pitt faces #9 UNC in Charlotte.
And to seriously reply to Dan72’s rhetorical question, actually yes, I can be much more condescending, it seems to be a natural gift that I have, however I try my best to keep this gift check since I realize that it is one of the more abrasive characteristics of an already sandpaper like personality.
Several years ago, Arthur Blank sold Falcons season tickets for $150 for their 10 home games. It worked, the stadium was full on game day. Then he raised prices and people dropped their season tickets. Bottom line, a ticket is only worth what somewhat is willing to pay.
Building an on campus stadium just for football is a huge waste of money. I’d rather see a new computer center or science facility on Pitt’s campus. After all, what is college for?
It’s just not feasible IMO. When Pitt Stadium was built the NFL wasn’t even popular.
“I have not yet begun to fight” JPJ C’mon.
Daily Double, you would have been right in the thick of it!!!!!!!
Well, great job by Sarah, wearing her Pitt proudly!!!
Finished third in final Jeopardy, kind of a misnomer though,
she actually finished third out of 10’s of thousands!!
Great job Sarah! Hail to Pitt!!
The dental school will want $40M for new digs and the law school too. It is an arms race in academia…and it is an arms race in athletics. But we are quick to point out the flaws with athletics. Please, Steve Pederson could not be smarter than 105 other AD’s, Presidents, Board of Trustees and Executives in Advancement. Say it isn’t so!
Maybe GTech should play in the Falcons stadium. Seriously, Would you think that is a good idea or would it ruin traditions and history on the gtech campus? The idea is to keep the engagement with the students and alumni to your campus. You can’t see the campus from the athletic front door here.
Who said Basketball is hitting a speedbump??? You Dixon lovers are funny. He has shit the bed for 5 years and makes 3M a year. A speedbump? A speedbump is a one year fluke or losing 3 in a row.
The process of getting past both of those obstacles would be so politically painful that no sane Pitt trustee would pursue it.
People won’t “move on” regarding the stadium issue because Pitt is one of a very small number of schools playing major college football in a rented stadium.
In short, you and your ilk need to get over it.
The stadium issue, like playing WVU, continues to be raised by bloggers because many fans respond.
Sellout Heinz consistently and you won’t have to hear about the OCS so much.
Seriously if Pitt continues expanding as an institution, creating a dual campus would be the way to go with fast mass transit between the two campuses. (Think elevated trains instead of subways.) There remain many parts of the greater Pittsburgh area that are still struggling financially that would embrace this second campus.
There Pitt could relocate all its athletics, training, student parking, etc. Several of the major schools within the university could also be relocated there to free up Oakland for the remaining schools. The OCS and the new fusion training reactor would fit perfectly on this second campus. This could be planned out in advance if the Steelers ever announce they are abandoning the North Side for a parts unknown as has been theorized above.
Pitt buys the Northside campus of CCAC, renames it Pitt North Campus. Heinz Field instantly becomes our OCS.
Problem solved.
Or…Pitt buys point park u. Renames it the dahntahn campus. Heinz is our OCS.
Brilliant, right?
Dontez Ford, still with NFL aspirations as a Pitt wideout with another year to play, seems headed for grad school.
I hope he sticks around and grad school will be at Pitt…
Charlotte has played some bigger programs, including Miami, Syracuse, Georgetown, Washington, and Michigan, and Uchebo has excelled in those games, too. Against those teams, he’s still averaging a double double, with more than 11 points and 11 rebounds per game. In fact, his 11.6 boards against those programs is even slightly better than his overall average (11.5), which included lesser teams. His numbers are basically parallels of his season averages so Uchebo is producing against the better teams as well.
Another reason for his success could be playing time. He could barely sniff the court here at Pitt with the Panthers forced to rely upon Michael Young at center as Uchebo struggled. But more playing time (he’s averaging 27 minutes per game) has equaled more success.
Say it isn’t so Joe…more playing time equals more success? Really, is that all it would have taken?
Maybe he found a more cooperative pharmacist.
That wasn’t going to happen at Pitt. It couldn’t have been the coaching, right?
Further, my ilk don’t really like the idea of playing in a rented stadium … but we do accept reality …. unlike ‘the people of your ilk’
Not very nice.
GT has the oldest college football stadium in FBS, built in 1909 and was renovated many times. When the stadium was recently updated, the students demanded that class and study rooms be built adjacent to the stadium. If you have been to Bobby Dodd Stadium you will notice the private suites in the south and west stands. These private suites double as study rooms and class rooms to allow students to have a quiet place to study and meet. Even if Pitt did build a facility like Bobby Dodd it would be very expensive.
Pitt made the decision to raze Pitt Stadium because it and Fitzgerald Field House needed major renovations. We know the history… I don’t see Pitt shelling out megabucks for a football team unless there is a cost benefit to its student body. Perhaps a new Pitt stadium can incorporate class and study rooms to justify the cost but I don’t foresee this happening.
Perhaps someday the Steelers organization and Pitt may build an ultra-modern facility like the one being built in Atlanta. This stadium will be domed as a multi-function year-round facility. I think Pittsburgh may end-up going the way of Atlanta in building a new multi-purpose facility but it will be well past most of us Blatherites’ time on this earth. It’s just my humble opinion of course. Hail to Pitt!
P.S. Compared to the Dallas stadium and the new Falcons stadium set to open in 2017, Heinz field may seem like a shit hole. But ultra-modern stadiums don’t win games. On campus college stadiums are nice and convenient for students and alumni. Pitt had its stadium but had no vision for renovating Pitt stadium. In hindsight, Pitt’s chancellor should have been more futuristic in his thinking, but…
I can see both Camp and Miller seeing a lot of PT this year … in fact Miller may be the reason that the guy he verbaled with at the same time, Hill, will see more action on offense.
Rewatched the Centerstage interview with Curtis Martin, what an amazing story.
Larry Fitz at Pebble Beach.
1. Everyone wanted to see the best WR in college football dominate. He was worth the price of admission (I know a lot of current season ticket holders who converted to Pitt fans because they fell in love with Fitz).
2. 03 was Coach Harri’s most talented team and should have won the Big East but underachieved and sealed his fate for the long walk. The home schedule that year was a good one.
3. Contrary to the three yards and a cloud of dust theory of the Western half of the state, The casual fan (aka fickle season ticket holder) likes to see the ball throw more than 10 yards in the air down the field.