Cincinnati tarp

[Sean Miller Fan]

Pittsburgh isn't even close to the top 5-6 potential MLS expansion cities. A few month back MLS asked for bids from potentially interested parties. Groups from the following cities put in proposals:

Charlotte
Cincinnati
Detroit
Indianapolis
Nashville
Phoenix
Raleigh/Durham
Sacramento
San Antonio
San Diego
St Louis
Tampa/St Pete

That's a dozen. And Pittsburgh is no where on the list. It is very unlikely that there will be an MLS team in Pittsburgh for at least the next several decades.

Thanks for posting. I don't even know how many MLS teams there are because I don't follow it. But I know that at least 6 of those cities are light years ahead of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh isn't even in the race.

Pittsburgh isn't in the race for 2 reasons:

1. The owner of the Riverhounds is probably only worth a couple million bucks as a local Fayette County construction guy. He is in no position to bid for an MLS franchise.

2. Nobody else is interested in bringing an MLS team to Pittsburgh.

I personally do not think the MLS would work in Pittsburgh. But what is happening in Cincinnati and Atlanta make me think that if you put a ton of money behind it (like the Rooneys or Mario owning it), that it could be very successful here.

Atlanta, a city that lost an NHL team on 2 separate occasions, whose legendary Braves teams of the 90s weren't selling out playoff games, and whose Hawks play to half-empty arenas is possibly the worst sports town in America. Yet Atlanta United leads every major non-NFL pro franchise in attendance. Its unbelievable. I cant wrap my head around it.

Here's an article exploring why the MLS has been such a huge hit. Like the Riverhounds, they also had a minor league soccer team struggling with attendance.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ited-mls-soccer-popularity-average-attendance

 

[Pitt79]

Pittsburgh isn't in the race for 2 reasons:

1. The owner of the Riverhounds is probably only worth a couple million bucks as a local Fayette County construction guy. He is in no position to bid for an MLS franchise.

2. Nobody else is interested in bringing an MLS team to Pittsburgh.

I personally do not think the MLS would work in Pittsburgh. But what is happening in Cincinnati and Atlanta make me think that if you put a ton of money behind it (like the Rooneys or Mario owning it), that it could be very successful here.

Atlanta, a city that lost an NHL team on 2 separate occasions, whose legendary Braves teams of the 90s weren't selling out playoff games, and whose Hawks play to half-empty arenas is possibly the worst sports town in America. Yet Atlanta United leads every major non-NFL pro franchise in attendance. Its unbelievable. I cant wrap my head around it.

Here's an article exploring why the MLS has been such a huge hit. Like the Riverhounds, they also had a minor league soccer team struggling with attendance.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ited-mls-soccer-popularity-average-attendance

They went after young quality players from South America and are a high scoring team and in the playoff hunt.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Honestly, this is pretty simple. If Pitt had their own stadium, it would seat 45K to 50K. So, tarping the entire upper deck endzone bleachers and potentially the entire visitor side upper deck just creates a stadium that is a lower bowl and addition upper deck seating on the home side. As in, the way quite a few stadiums are already built. For the big games, just open up more seats and offer them to season ticket holders first. Done and done.

How much does the lower bowl and a single sideline upper deck fit? 47K maybe? Perfect. Model it after what's done for the Atheltics and Raiders. Looks cleans and simple. It's perfect.

 

[3genpanther]

When did it become embarrassing to not have a full stadium? It's been the norm historically. It's no big deal. What if you tarped it off at 45000 seats and 46000 came? If I was among that 1000 that didn't get in I might not come back.

So you're saying all those people who couldn't get a ticket to a big Pitt hoops games 10 years ago never tried again and quit on the program?

 

[Pitt79]

So you're saying all those people who couldn't get a ticket to a big Pitt hoops games 10 years ago never tried again and quit on the program?

Why reduce available tickets if you don't have to?

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Any other way to break up the upper deck cavernous swath of mustard?

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

They don't have to... But, if they're going to, the Athletics and Raiders are the obvious examples to follow. In either case, no half measure. Either tarp the upper deck end zone and/or the upper deck visitor's sideline. Those seats no longer exist. Pitt's Heinz is then the lower bowl and a single sideline upper deck or the lower bowl and an upper deck on each sideline. For folks that believe Pitt should play in a 47K to 60K stadium, that's the most obvious resolution. It's not like USF didn't exclusively sell the lower bowl in Tampa's Raymond James to reduce capacity to 42K for most/all home games. And, it's not like the Raiders don't currently do it. Viewed below. Looks perfectly fine too. But, again, I wouldn't do just patches. Either tarp entire upper decks or don't do it at all.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

FC Cincinnati, a new soccer team in USL (which is technically the 3rd division behind MLS, same as Riverhounds) is drawing massive crowds that has stunned the American soccer community. Cincitucky has never been thought of as a soccer town but they have developed a Seattle Sounders-like rabid young fanbase.

Anyway, they "sold out" their US Open Cup seminal loss to the NY Red Bulls last night but didn't make several thousand tickets available, instead putting a pretty cool-looling tarp over it.

Take a look at this picture and this is how cool 30K-40K would look if people weren't spread out in a stadium that is far too big.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/08/09/fc-cincinnati-sell-out-us-open-cup-semifinal-vs-new-york-red-bulls?amp

 

[Pitt79]

Any other way to break up the upper deck cavernous swath of mustard?

Who cares? Why? How does that hurt you or anybody? I went to every Pitt game from 1987-1992 at Pitt Stadium, it was OFTEN half empty, unless we where playing Ohio State, Penn State or ND, some of the teams where decent, this is nothing new.

 

[Pitt79]

Did you see last Sunday's Steelers game? 90 degrees, pre season, it looked like there where less than 20000 there, it was all yellow. Show how sophisticated Steelers fans are! Why sit in that heat for a non game.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

I don't like this. Looks horrid. Too busy. Trying far too hard. Again, Raiders way is perfect. Simple, clean. In Pitt's case, it would be all blue with a gold script logo.

 

[3genpanther]

Why reduce available tickets if you don't have to?

Ask the Golden State Warriors, whose new arena in the Bay starting in 2019 is 1,500 seats less than Oracle Arena. You don't think they could have increased capacity?

Ensuring a consistent full stadium results in a better atmosphere, a better perception (the hot ticket in town), and a higher price point. Obviously there's a tipping point where too small of a stadium, coupled with ticket prices hitting a plateau, results in lost revenue, but if our expected demand for 7 games looks like: 65k (big game), 52k, 50k, 48k, 45k, 44k, and 35k, then give me a 50k stadium rather than a 60-65k stadium. With the right pricing strategy, Pitt would make up for the lower amount of tickets for the big game.

 

[pittdan77]

Ask the Golden State Warriors, whose new arena in the Bay starting in 2019 is 1,500 seats less than Oracle Arena. You don't think they could have increased capacity?

Nope. Just planning for an eventual return to historical averages.

 

[pittdan77]

I remember when the Pirates put up tarps in the upper deck of Three Rivers Stadium as I'm sure many others do as well.

That added sooooo much atmosphere to the games. I couldn't wait to go to a Pirates game and look at those impressive tarps. The noise from thousands of other Pirate fans who went solely for the increased excitement and experience the tarps created was deafening and certainly added to the event. Don't you all remember that? Tarps! Tarps! Tarps! Fans could all sit closer together, hold hands and sing Kumbaya. They were the answer to making Pirates games exciting and the place just felt so much fuller.

Did this show up in the sarcasm font?

Actually, in 1990, the first home game of the NLCS saw the city get ridiculed by the national media for not "selling out" Three Rivers. Even with the stupid tarps.

 

[3genpanther]

Nope. Just planning for an eventual return to historical averages.

That's the point really. You want a stadium that reflects your historical averages and not your max. What's our historical average of actual Pitt fans in the stands? That's about what our capacity should be.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

What about some sort of glasses to disguise it, like the eclipse ones?

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

What about some sort of glasses to disguise it, like the eclipse ones?

I'd challenge the Computer Science or Engineering schools to come up with a way to beam holograms of fans onto the empty seats.

 

[pittdan77]

That's the point really. You want a stadium that reflects your historical averages and not your max. What's our historical average of actual Pitt fans in the stands? That's about what our capacity should be.

It is. Heinz conforms to what the Steelers need.

 

[Pitt79]

higher price point.

LOL! I'm not rooting for a HIGHER ticket price! I LOVE situations where the fan holds the upper hand over the team, like cheap ticket prices and tickets easily available.

 

[PITTLAW]

LOL! I'm not rooting for a HIGHER ticket price! I LOVE situations where the fan holds the upper hand over the team, like cheap ticket prices and tickets easily available.

May be good for selfish folks that have no concern about the future of the program. Ultimately, if Pitt is unable to generate enough revenue through ticket sales, league monies, media, etc....the program will be doomed to be a bottom-feeder forever [presuming they don't just throw in the towel--like some academics would like]. Hail to Pitt!

 

[cbpitt2]

Empty is empty.

 

[1963Uninvited]

Empty is empty.

What does this picture have to do with anything? If you can only fill 15% of a stadium, then of course tarping 25% won't make any difference What is your point, that tarping means you will only have 10,000 fans attend? This picture is meaningless.

A 30,000 seat stadium will never be right for a WPIAL AAAA program. And a 30,000 seat stadium will never be right for an SEC program. You need to have a stadium that matches your fan base size.

We have about 45,000 people in our fan base that attends games. We should have a 50,000 seat stadium. I'd rather have the stadium, but that's not feasible. Tarping to 50,000 does roughly same thing, as the many other examples in this thread have shown. Not a perfect solution, but better than what we have.

 

[Pitt79]

May be good for selfish folks that have no concern about the future of the program. Ultimately, if Pitt is unable to generate enough revenue through ticket sales, league monies, media, etc....the program will be doomed to be a bottom-feeder forever [presuming they don't just throw in the towel--like some academics would like]. Hail to Pitt!

That's how I feel about every sports team, I wish the Steelers where selling only 60K seats per game instead of selling out to put getting tickets more in my control and also not forcing me to commit early. I like making game day or game week decisions and then not having a hard time getting tickets. It's just entertainment after all.

 

[PITTLAW]

That's how I feel about every sports team, I wish the Steelers where selling only 60K seats per game instead of selling out to put getting tickets more in my control and also not forcing me to commit early. I like making game day or game week decisions and then not having a hard time getting tickets. It's just entertainment after all.

Well I get it is all about you, and always has been. But what a foolish and short term view of the world. If the Steelers were only able to sell 60,000 seats at below market prices...their talent level would decline to such a point that it would probably get to a place where it would no longer be entertaining to you or anyone to attend their games. It costs money to be competitive and have a good team--regardless of the sport [professional or collegiate]. The good news is that the world has more people that get it and want to help, versus the greedy, self-centered, cheapskates that think it is only about them. Send your daughter to a cheap community college, will cost you less, and it is always easy to get admitted. Who cares about the educational experience or quality of education she receives? LOL Hail to Pitt!

 

[Pitt79]

Well I get it is all about you, and always has been. But what a foolish and short term view of the world. If the Steelers were only able to sell 60,000 seats at below market prices...their talent level would decline to such a point that it would probably get to a place where it would no longer be entertaining to you or anyone to attend their games. It costs money to be competitive and have a good team--regardless of the sport [professional or collegiate]. The good news is that the world has more people that get it and want to help, versus the greedy, self-centered, cheapskates that think it is only about them. Send your daughter to a cheap community college, will cost you less, and it is always easy to get admitted. Who cares about the educational experience or quality of education she receives? LOL Hail to Pitt!

It's just entertainment, it's not a religion.

 

[PITTLAW]

It's just entertainment, it's not a religion.

Never said it was anything other than entertainment. However, if you are entertained by watching a crap team play...save yourself some additional time and money...buy a case of beer and go watch some local high school football teams play...or better yet, some Pop Warner kids playing. It's just entertainment. If you actually care about the team you are watching for entertainment attempting to be competitive and win--well then your attitude will only hurt that team. Hail to Pitt!

 

[anon_vmuicqnzlyp3u]

Nobody really likes that @&*%. The one guy biggest hit is about his tractor.

your full of shit if you think Chesney only had one hit

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

I'm weird and selfish, but the cutoff at Heinz seems to be about 50k in the seats. Was there yesterday and 50623 spread out looked and felt fine. I think anything less, it starts feeling more empty than full. Pitt should be able to get to that at least if they field a credible team while everyone is hand wringing over tarps, oakland stadiums and free tickets I guess.

 

[TD_istheman]

Why does Pitt and their fans , see Pirates as well, always look for the easiest and cheapest way out?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Was there yesterday and 50623 spread out looked and felt fine.

Yesterday's and last week's announced Stiller attendance numbers show that our former AD must have found work making up attendance numbers for other sports teams just like he used to make up attendance numbers for us.

 

[Pitt79]

Never said it was anything other than entertainment. However, if you are entertained by watching a crap team play...save yourself some additional time and money...buy a case of beer and go watch some local high school football teams play...or better yet, some Pop Warner kids playing. It's just entertainment. If you actually care about the team you are watching for entertainment attempting to be competitive and win--well then your attitude will only hurt that team. Hail to Pitt!

Fine then, so be it. I make my season plans every year for football, usually includes 1 Steeler game and 1 Panther game, sometimes more. PURPOSE #1: Get drunk at the tailgate with old friends I rarely see. Then the rest of the games I watch on TV. I like the procurement of the tickets to be WITHOUT EFFORT. With the Steelers that will never happen. Personally, I'd hate it if every Panthers game sold out too and it became hard and expensive to get tickets for both on the same weekend. I get the Steelers tickets first, because those are harder, then if they match up with a Panthers game, I find it great that getting those tickets takes no effort.