Attendance...Forget about it

[JamesDeLeon]

For an urban institution playing major college football Pitt is doing fine in the attendance rankings.Of course, Southern Cal draws well in LA but there is no pro team there yet.

48,170 was the attendance based on six home games according to the NCAA.
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2015.pdf

Miami's attendance, even in their glory years at the Orange Bowl, was not great unless Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Florida, or Florida State was in town.

The final Orange Bowl game vs. Virginia was not sold out. Remember the 1999 Pitt-Notre Dame game, the final one at Pitt Stadium? 60,000+ and Pitt already had five losses.

Granted, Wannstedt's 2007 team only averaged around 35,000 but that season had some terrible losses to Virginia, Connecticut, Navy on a Wednesday night....

Pederson-Nordenberg said attendance would improve on the North Shore. It has. The notion that Pitt is going to get 60,000 to every game is fantasy. Pitt can easily get to 50,000 though, and will if the product on the field continues to improve.

 

[mvk112]

The LA Rams play in the same stadium USC does.

 

[PantherDave724]

Yea, the Rams, Kings, Dodgers, Angels, Lakers and Clippers all play in LA.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

All things considered, Pitt probably draws the best for college teams in pro sports cities.

 

[Safety Blitz]

Yea, the Rams, Kings, Dodgers, Angels, Lakers and Clippers all play in LA.

Oops.....Never mind.

 

[Teh Teh]

For an urban institution playing major college football Pitt is doing fine in the attendance rankings.Of course, Southern Cal draws well in LA but there is no pro team there yet.

48,170 was the attendance based on six home games according to the NCAA.
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2015.pdf

Miami's attendance, even in their glory years at the Orange Bowl, was not great unless Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Florida, or Florida State was in town.

The final Orange Bowl game vs. Virginia was not sold out. Remember the 1999 Pitt-Notre Dame game, the final one at Pitt Stadium? 60,000+ and Pitt already had five losses.

Granted, Wannstedt's 2007 team only averaged around 35,000 but that season had some terrible losses to Virginia, Connecticut, Navy on a Wednesday night....

Pederson-Nordenberg said attendance would improve on the North Shore. It has. The notion that Pitt is going to get 60,000 to every game is fantasy. Pitt can easily get to 50,000 though, and will if the product on the field continues to improve.

Undergraduate enrollment has much more to do with it also. We don't have a huge undergrad enrollment like the cult to the east

 

[HailtoPitt]

All things considered, Pitt probably draws the best for college teams in pro sports cities.

Nope.

 

[GT74]

The LA Rams play in the same stadium USC does.

Those stats were from 2015.

 

[Phantomrecruit]

EXCUSES

 

[PITTsburghFAN]

Those stats were from 2015.

The Pittsburgh Region's MSA (metro statistical area) is 2.35 million souls. LA's is 13.4 million. About 6 times the size. You cannot even compare the two areas... Pitt does, in fact, draw pretty well for a city our size and especially when one considers that one of the most iconic NFL franchises calls the same city home.

 

[runshadyrun]

Yea, the Rams, Kings, Dodgers, Angels, Lakers and Clippers all play in LA.

population 12 million... More than all of western PA!!!

 

[GT74]

EXCUSES

Excuses for what? For being who we are? Pitt is a smaller enrollment university in a pro town, with three popular professional teams. The Steelers may be the most popular NFL team world-wide. Also, Pittsburgh isn't even an extra large city with respect to some other pro towns. Pitt has competed well with similar schools in the past, and probably also will this year. These are not excuses, they are reality. The way to improve the situation is to win big, and to get the pro fans to share their passionate loyalties.

 

[Panther Al]

Stop making excuses for a pro town and all of this utter nonsense. For those that are confused, USC plays ON campus and their bookstore is a five minute WALK from campus which is equivalent to us walking from The Pitt Shop to the Pete/old Pitt Stadium. NOT A 12 MINUTE BUS RIDE which the students hate and have shown they want no part of and want to leave after the 3Q so they don't have the deal with the bus lines. Big difference. U of Michigan is a 15 minute walk to their football stadium from the main campus. Students want to wake and go (especially for noon games) or come and go as they want. The bottom line is nobody plays off campus anymore or is looking to move off campus to play in a pro or state of the art brand NEW off campus facility. The recruits don't care about the Steelers, NY Giants, Broncos, Bengals, Eagles, etc. Recruits want the atmosphere of playing on campus. Just ask Minnesota, Baylor, Rutgers, Cincinnati, Colorado State (opening next fall), Temple (will get passed) and USF (AD has already said they want an on campus building) who all played in pro buildings and failed ten times over. The new Pitt stadium should be 50,000 to 60,000 seats with the ability to add on if necessary which has happened at many of the top schools with the growth of their football programs. See PSU, OSU, UM and ND who are our major competitors for 4/5 star players. H2P!

 

[GT74]

Stop making excuses for a pro town and all of this utter nonsense. For those that are confused, USC plays ON campus and their bookstore is a five minute WALK from campus which is equivalent to us walking from The Pitt Shop to the Pete/old Pitt Stadium. NOT A 12 MINUTE BUS RIDE which the students hate and have shown they want no part of and want to leave after the 3Q so they don't have the deal with the bus lines. Big difference. U of Michigan is a 15 minute walk to their football stadium from the main campus. Students want to wake and go (especially for noon games) or come and go as they want. The bottom line is nobody plays off campus anymore or is looking to move off campus to play in a pro or state of the art brand NEW off campus facility. The recruits don't care about the Steelers, NY Giants, Broncos, Bengals, Eagles, etc. Recruits want the atmosphere of playing on campus. Just ask Minnesota, Baylor, Rutgers, Cincinnati, Colorado State (opening next fall), Temple (will get passed) and USF (AD has already said they want an on campus building) who all played in pro buildings and failed ten times over. The new Pitt stadium should be 50,000 to 60,000 seats with the ability to add on if necessary which has happened at many of the top schools with the growth of their football programs. See PSU, OSU, UM and ND who are our major competitors for 4/5 star players. H2P!

Not having an on-campus stadium for lower attendance is an excuse!! Pitt fans, hard-core or casual, will find excuses to go to games they want to go to, no matter where stadium is. Listen, I would like an on-campus stadium, too, if it was feasible, but games weren't sold out consistently at Pitt stadium either. Students have done pretty well supporting the team at Heinz. The problem is not them, it is the season ticket holders that don't go to games, and the casual fans who pick and choose what games. If Narduzzi and staff can win big in future, and get some exciting blue-chips, attendance will increase. Sellouts every game? Not many schools today do that.

 

[Las Panteras]

All things considered, Pitt probably draws the best for college teams in pro sports cities.

Washington is in Seattle. the campus is less than a mile from Downtown

Washington draws far better than we do

that is all.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Washington is in Seattle. the campus is less than a mile from Downtown

Washington draws far better than we do

that is all.

Wash had the opportunity to move to the Seahawk's stadium, but they chose an expensive remodel of Husky Stadium instead. If not, their program would be all but done. Instead, they are headed towards the playoff. Excellent decision by them.

Now don't move the ball now that we provided an example.

 

[H2P-2007]

Turned on the Washington - WSU game yesterday for a bit before it got out of hand. The announcers mentioned that the stadium sat 32,000!!! How is it even possible to be a P5 team and have a stadium so small?!

 

[HailtoPitt]

Turned on the Washington - WSU game yesterday for a bit before it got out of hand. The announcers mentioned that the stadium sat 32,000!!! How is it even possible to be a P5 team and have a stadium so small?!

Wash State. 32k stadium. Top 25 team. Just fyi.