Right and really, Pitt's attendance isn't really that bad all things considered. For what Pitt is, I think our attendance is actually pretty good. Think about it:
No one under the age of say 45 remembers a really good Pitt season (defined as less than 3 regular season losses) so there have been generations of Pitt fans who could have come of age during 10-2 or 11-1 seasons that we missed out on.
It a small school per P5 standards
Massive fanbase of Pengins and Steelers make Pitt an afterthought for most fans, even alums.
Yet, somehow, we often draw 40K. That semi-amazes me. It just looks horrendous with 30K empty seats and the atmosphere is much worse than an elementary school soccer game.....because of optics and how spread out everyone is. A lot of this would go away if we just closed down sections
I compare us to the University of Minnesota as far as a program in at least as far as success, history and attendance. What is amazing, is our attendance is very much similar. But just to put things in perspective:
1) Minneapolis St Paul is much larger than Pittsburgh
2) University of Minnesota is much larger than Pitt.
3) There is no other P5 conference team in state.
4) You can drive 300 miles and touch ONE other P5 program from Minnesota (Wisconsin). At Pitt, you drive 300 miles and you hit, WVU, PSU, tOSU, Michigan, Maryland that is at least Five programs, 3 of them amongst the biggest in college football.
Yet we draw very similar. Now Minnesota has built (smartly) a 50K on campus stadium that has boosted attendance somewhat, but capping them at 50K. This, in a school that is much bigger enrollment wise, in a metro area that has a million more people and no other fanbase even close to them.
So for Pitt to even think that they are going to fill up Heinz is ludicrous. In "pro" cities, there just isn't the same demand for college football. I wonder how many Minnesota Vikings season ticket holders are U Minnesota alumni and not U Minnesota ticket holders? I bet that number is larger than Pitt grads owning Steelers season tix and not Pitt. And you cannot even compare the success of the Vikings to the Steelers.
Heinz Field just is not good for us. And then on top of all that, you get those ghastly yellow seats that when you even have 4,000 no shows for a Steeler game, it is noticeable.