Is PITT & Steelers Attendance a Zero Sum Game

[BuffetParrothead]

I've been wondering about this for a while as PITT football attendance is discussed.
Is attendance a zero sum game between PITT and the Steeler fans.
If the answer is yes the plan has to be to develop new PITT fans since the attendance pool would be fixed and one team or the other ( not both) will either benefit or be hurt by attendance shifts.
zero-sum game
A situation in which a gain by one person or side must be matched by a loss by another person or side

People who like football in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area have only so much disposable income and time to spend on things they like. Is this the same pool of people who decide I'll go to a PITT game or a Steelers game and if I choose PITT I don't go to the Steelers and if I chose Steelers I don't go to the PITT game?
I doubt they go to both due to financial and time constraints or are they completely different fanbase pools.
For example if PITT sold out every game today with standing room only crowds and a wait list for season tickets would Steeler attendance decline.

 

[Rockyhound]

I think time constraints are a bigger factor than financial. Going to a Pitt game is not expensive. Now for someone like me in Central PA, it takes a minimum of a full day and usually a full weekend.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

It is a time factor.

 

[Pghfan]

I dont' think so. If the Steelers up and move, I don't think Pitt games are instant sell outs, actually I don't think that would influence attendance at all. I actually think if the steelers left town, it would actually hurt Pitt football..

 

[Saboteur]

I've been wondering about this for a while as PITT football attendance is discussed.
Is attendance a zero sum game between PITT and the Steeler fans.
If the answer is yes the plan has to be to develop new PITT fans since the attendance pool would be fixed and one team or the other ( not both) will either benefit or be hurt by attendance shifts.
zero-sum game
A situation in which a gain by one person or side must be matched by a loss by another person or side

People who like football in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area have only so much disposable income and time to spend on things they like. Is this the same pool of people who decide I'll go to a PITT game or a Steelers game and if I choose PITT I don't go to the Steelers and if I chose Steelers I don't go to the PITT game?
I doubt they go to both due to financial and time constraints or are they completely different fanbase pools.
For example if PITT sold out every game today with standing room only crowds and a wait list for season tickets would Steeler attendance decline.

Good points all....here is what i can tell you that qualify as facts:

1. The Steelers are arguably the most successful NFL franchise over the last 40 years; prior to that, they stunk like cow dung and were a league joke.
2. Pitt is arguably the most mediocre college football team over the last 30 years (I can't muster the courage to say Pitt has even risen to the level of a "program" until the last couple of years)
3. The two play within yards of one another;
4. Many steeler fans are from outside of Pittsburgh/PA...my friends from Columbus are OSU/Steelers season ticket holders.
5. winners draw fans, losers draw flies.
6. Pitt was a private school until the 60's...small in comparison and somehwat elitist.
7. Pitt has devoted little time and attention to its entire athletic department until quite recently
8. I have 3 season tickets in 139 and 2 for 3 games (UL, ND, Miami) in the south club: so I bought 24 tickets
9. I take kids and friends to the games who otherwise would not go.
10. Everyone I took to games this year loved the experience and thanked me
11. Next year, i will buy 5 tickets in south club. that is 35 tickets.
12. I have committed to buy 2 tickets to the bowl game.
13. if we win, my friends and kids will want to come back...if we don't, they won't.

In the end, Pitt is merely reaping its harvest from seeds planted long ago...overnight fixes are never sustained. I am confident that our leadership now understands that foundations need to be built...we have nevr had a good foundation.

1. 
   
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[HailtoPitt]

As I have been saying for a long time now, Pitt's attendance solution is a long term fix. Going after the Pittsburgh pro sports fans might bring in some people when the team is playing well, so in that sense it isn't a zero sum game, but those people aren't going to show up when Pitt is 3-7 or 4-4 or even 8-3. They will show up when Pitt is 8-0 and has a big game, and this extra support will not take away from the Steelers. However, this model is not sustainable. We need to focus on Pitt alums and students (while also keeping the non alum season ticket holder). The best way to accomplish this is a long term effort of consistent branding, preferably playing in Oakland, and of course winning more often, NONE of which we have done. Constantly trying to attach Pitt to Pittsburgh sports fans hasn't and isn't' going to work. The problem is that people have yet to grasp this concept, and probably never will.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

A different product would help. College football at Heinz is NFL JV football. Pitt needs to sell something different, a different atmosphere, ambience. Thats tough to do in a 70K seat monstrosity 4 miles from campus.

 

[Saboteur]

[QUOTE="
...
. Constantly trying to attach Pitt to Pittsburgh sports fans hasn't and isn't' going to work. The problem is that people have yet to grasp this concept, and probably never will.[/QUOTE]


Precisely!!!

 

[HailtoPitt]

A different product would help. College football at Heinz is NFL JV football. Pitt needs to sell something different, a different atmosphere, ambience. Thats tough to do in a 70K seat monstrosity 4 miles from campus.

Pitt has limited itself on the product it can sell by playing at Heinz.

 

[UPitt '89]

Lots of people have tickets to both. So it isn't "zero-sum".