Historically low attendance Saturday?
- Thread starter tetonpanther
- Start date
Club seats can be had for $40 on StubHub. I don't recall them ever being that low.
Pitt has a lukewarm, cheap fanbase. It is, what it is.
I will be there with my little boy.
The BC Thursday nighter will be. There wont be 10K there. 24 months after winning the ACCCG. Narduzzi's tank job is legendary.
The product also is what it is.
Pitt could be undefeated right now and there would still be a bunch of empty seats. Pitt has 50k fans show up when we are playing well, it’s an attractive opponent, and the weather is nice. That’s when all the stars align.
That’s very harsh……to say ROI for Pitt fans has been poor is an understatement…. this year is just one more kick in he groin.
2021 Clemson game and last year Tennessee are perfect examples.
It would have been even lower if Duz hadn’t been forced to demote Jurkovec.
I think there is reason to check out how Veilleux does, how the team responds, how the COACHES (Cig in particular) respond.
Will Cig have a good, reasonably diverse plan for him, or did he go into Derek Bell mode when he learned his boy won’t be the starter?
I’ve no delusion Veilleux is gonna light it up, or that it should be expected Cig would even make a game plan for him to try to do that … but there HAS to be more than the full out turtle-mode I’m frankly expecting. However, “it’s why they play the game” so until that expectation is realized, I’ve a reason to attend and see
I think there is reason to check out how Veilleux does, how the team responds, how the COACHES (Cig in particular) respond.
Will Cig have a good, reasonably diverse plan for him, or did he go into Derek Bell mode when he learned his boy won’t be the starter?
I’ve no delusion Veilleux is gonna light it up, or that it should be expected Cig would even make a game plan for him to try to do that … but there HAS to be more than the full out turtle-mode I’m frankly expecting. However, “it’s why they play the game” so until that expectation is realized, I’ve a reason to attend and see
I tried to sell my tickets, nobody would buy them lol So, I'll be there checking out CV
It’s going to rain, so the casual fan will use that excuse as well. The attendance was pathetic for our home game against GT last year and we were coming off an ACC Championship.
If Duzz hire's an innovative OC and have a good QB, it will bring out the
non regular fans. He needs a young coach that players flock to.
non regular fans. He needs a young coach that players flock to.
No it won’t. 2016 had an exciting offense and we won the ACC Championship with Pickett.
If the weather is bad and we aren’t playing a big name opponent, then our attendance is 40k. That’s with a good team.
You’re really hung up on attendance. Barely a year ago Pitt set the Acrisure Stadium record for attendance against WVU until Taylor Swift broke it.
This is a cheap put down that is tired and repetitive.
Yup - we have 50k fans show up when all the stars align. I have 40 years of attending games as evidence. I’ll be there Saturday in the rain.
Pitt fans are lame. That’s just the truth of the matter.
Coincidentally, cheap, tired and repetitive are also the description of many Pitt fans.
This is really the most realistic scenario for Pitt to have any hope of pulling out of this spiral that has begun. Pitt won’t permit a booster spending orgy on players; isn’t going to build a new on campus stadium; certainly isn’t going to part ways with Narduzzi and hire a splash HC; and inexplicably stopped giving out bobbleheads. All Pitt really can do is force the hire of a young/vibrant/pass happy (or dare I say go-go) OC that players will be excited enough to pass up more NIL money elsewhere to play for; and basically dare Duz to walk if he doesn’t want to go along.
Weather is too cold.
Weather is too wet.
Kickoff time is too late.
Weather is too hot.
Kickoff time is too early.
Tickets are too expensive.
Sight lines are bad.
If I pay money I better see a win.
Why don’t they play a “good team”?
Offense isn’t exciting.
Defense is a sieve.
Uniforms aren’t the right color.
Should play on campus.
Will go when they fire coach I don’t like.
Parking is too hard.
Can’t tailgate.
They didn’t recruit a kid from my local HS.
Not enough chicken fingers in the basket.
Want me to donate.
Didn’t kiss my ass.
No one goes.
Lines are too long.
Music too loud.
Crowd is dead.
Sweet Caroline.
Did I miss any anything? Go. Don’t. Your choice. Just stfu.
Weather is too wet.
Kickoff time is too late.
Weather is too hot.
Kickoff time is too early.
Tickets are too expensive.
Sight lines are bad.
If I pay money I better see a win.
Why don’t they play a “good team”?
Offense isn’t exciting.
Defense is a sieve.
Uniforms aren’t the right color.
Should play on campus.
Will go when they fire coach I don’t like.
Parking is too hard.
Can’t tailgate.
They didn’t recruit a kid from my local HS.
Not enough chicken fingers in the basket.
Want me to donate.
Didn’t kiss my ass.
No one goes.
Lines are too long.
Music too loud.
Crowd is dead.
Sweet Caroline.
Did I miss any anything? Go. Don’t. Your choice. Just stfu.
Should we use attendance versus Notre Dame, Penn State, and WVU as the benchmark, though? I think we all realize those types of numbers are the exception, not the rule.
Like Sauce said, it is what it is. We’re a relatively smaller fanbase in a pro sports city. Nothing wrong with that.
I think the big one you missed is that we spell our name with the wrong font.
Moving to Heinz was a good business idea, but Pitt should have had it b built into the plan from the very start that we would never use the upper deck, that they would be tarped, with very limited exceptions for “Special” games such Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, possibly WVU games where the sales and seating for those could be baked into the season tickets for that season well ahead. Every other game, 40,000 max or whatever the 100 and 200 levels seat. That way it would have been established from the start and no stigma. Well, not the same stigma we now have anyway.
The tarps could then have been integrated into the design, not even crappy temporary tarps but more like large fitted pull down awnings, easily enacted and retracted, with complimentary colors, graphics and especially, advertising.
Everybody knew Pitt would never aspire to be the type of program that would draw 70000 a game.
It always has, and always will, come down to this--put a product out there that generates some national buzz and that is worth going to some expense and effort to go see, play opponents that people that live in your region actually give some semblance of a $hit about, figure out how to somehow create a real college football gameday environment at your miles off campus pro football stadium, and you'll get decent attendance.
We're citing a home game against lowly Georgia Tech with Pitt "coming off an ACC championship" as a sign that Pitt fans don't care? That's funny. NOBODY ANYWHERE would get off their ass and go to any trouble to watch GT play football, including their own alums. In Pittsburgh, I think it's a pretty big ask to expect people to get all excited and fill an NFL stadium located in Western Pennsylvania to watch a middling college team play football games played against middling southeastern basketball schools.
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It’s all excuses. You need better players to win. The atmosphere sucks for most home games and that falls squarely on the fans. It was the same way at Pitt Stadium when we were on campus. The biggest thing that plays a role in landing recruits today is $$$. That also falls squarely on the fans. NIL is the name of the game. Players also want the best facilities. Once again, that falls squarely on the fans. Good facilities cost money. Pitt fans like you are the worst. All you do is complain and make excuses, but do nothing to help the problem.
Exactly 💯....it's tough to be a Pitt fan but I wouldn't have it any other way!!!!! H2P FOREVER
You’re not wrong but it’s an arms race a lot of people including myself aren’t interested in. I don’t complain too much as I’ve accepted what it is. But when I have money to donate somewhere I’d have a list that would never make it to give it to a college football team.
When I had tickets I did what was required for the tix I wanted and maybe I’ll get to where I can make a bunch of games again, but beyond that, I’m out.
And I know it’s been stated including by you but interest in Pitt is limited to begin with. I had hoops tix and when the guy who I went with couldn’t make it I struggled to find anyone to go with when they were good. Couldn’t give football tickets away. And this was among sports fans.
The old standby....Beer is too expensive!....(even though I got $14 seats off SH and can sit anywhere in the upper tier w/o being hassled)
Eh, pretty unwarranted to go after the fans this year. The product on the field is damn near insulting.
I've been critical of the fans in the past, too, but the reality is we're probably doing better than what we should be, when you look at comparable situations. The stadium is too big... period.
I've been critical of the fans in the past, too, but the reality is we're probably doing better than what we should be, when you look at comparable situations. The stadium is too big... period.
I have stuck with this program through thick and thin but the university’s commitment to FB and the on the field product haven’t been consistent enough to grow the fan base. And this year’s team is a classic example of what impedes attendance growth. With 2 pretty good seasons in the immediate rear view mirror, this year’s team has played such an ugly brand of FB that they are nearly unwatchable. And then when you examine the reasons why, that just further compounds the program’s credibility issues.
For 40 years this chicken and egg riddle has been going on around attendance but the fans didn’t shoo away Jackie Sherrill, hire Foge Fazio, hire Paul Hackett, impose scorched earth academic requirements, tear down Pitt stadium, hire Steve Peterson not once but twice and hire clowns like Graeme and Hayward. People who blame the fans for the current attendance issues have short memories and will go to great lengths to excuse Pitt and the then current coaching regime.
For 40 years this chicken and egg riddle has been going on around attendance but the fans didn’t shoo away Jackie Sherrill, hire Foge Fazio, hire Paul Hackett, impose scorched earth academic requirements, tear down Pitt stadium, hire Steve Peterson not once but twice and hire clowns like Graeme and Hayward. People who blame the fans for the current attendance issues have short memories and will go to great lengths to excuse Pitt and the then current coaching regime.
There’s always an excuse. I’ll use 2 of our better teams that had an exciting offense.
2016 - We beat PS and Clemson. The attendance at the end of the year was putrid.
2021-22 - We won 20 games and an ACC Championship. The attendance was pathetic against GT, Duke, UVA, etc.
Pitt fan apathy and lack of support is why this program doesn’t get better recruits.
Too bad it's not like the NFL where you can get a high draft pick
GT was just about the shittiest weather imaginable. That was my first missed game since Villanova 2016 (but those tickets were at least used), and I'm not ashamed of it. I wasn't sitting in those elements to watch Pitt vs Georgia Tech at 8pm.
Duke and UVA were both Thanksgiving break, I believe. I thought the UVA attendance would be a little better, but it was far from bad. That was a pretty good atmosphere. With Duke... we were 6-4 at the time. The season ended up okay, but let's not pretend we were in the midst of some special run. That was a disappointing season that got resurrected at the end.
To me, that was the best game I ever attended, I've seen them beat Penn State, ND, WVU, Ohio State (42-10) in person, but that was the one I enjoyed most, maybe it was being a great team for the first time in decades and beating a top team.
40k is great attendance in an NFL city, which teams with NFL in their city do better? Not just NFL, but one of the most iconic franchises.
It was a very light drizzle at the beginning of Pitt/GT and stopped raining completely by the end of the 1st Quarter.
That's what people don't get. Look at Minnesota's attendance. Miami's (actual - not what they announce). UCLA. USC. Northwestern.
And here are their undergrad numbers:
UCLA - 32,423
USC - 20,699
Minnesota - 39,248
Miami - 12,504
Pitt - 19,928
So when you take us vs Minnesota, for example, They're graduating 20k more than us per year. If they all go on to live 50 years on average, that's a freaking MILLION more living alum than us they have. And we probably outdraw them most weeks.
What's so difficult to understand about smaller schools in major cities (i.e. pro teams are an obstacle as is the fact that there is other stuff to do) not drawing 65k/week? It's redirected aggression. The team sucks, so let's go at the fans.
Nobody has ever expected Minnesota to win and people in Miami don’t give a sht about sports, college or professional
Who has expected Pitt to win? Were you born in 2021? We've had four decades of mediocrity. We actually do even better when factoring that in.
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