James Conner Bobblehead giveaway announced

[Chris Peak]

From Pitt:

PITTSBURGH—Pitt Athletics announced Thursday afternoon that in conjunction with the University’s 2017 Homecoming festivities, the first 30,000 fans in attendance at the Saturday, October 14 football game versus NC State will receive an exclusive James Conner Bobblehead.

As the Panthers wear the famous Pitt retro colors at Heinz Field against the Wolfpack, fans will have the opportunity to take home a bit of memorabilia of Conner wearing the same iconic uniform.

Conner, now a running back with the Pittsburgh Steelers, memorably set the ACC all-time touchdowns record in the Pitt retro colors last season in the Panthers’ 56-14 victory over Duke.

One of the most decorated players in Pitt football history, Conner finished his collegiate career with 56 total touchdowns and 52 rushing scores—both ACC records—and is second only to the legendary Tony Dorsett in Pitt history with 3,733 career rushing yards.

Following the all-clear from his Hodgkin lymphoma cancer diagnosis, Conner’s four years at the University of Pittsburgh concluded with a memorable comeback 2016 season that saw him top 1,000 yards rushing with 20 touchdowns in earning first team All-ACC honors.

He previously was a first team All-American and ACC Player of the Year during his standout 2014 campaign in which he rushed for 1,765 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Game tickets are on sale now starting at only $25.



Call the Panthers Ticket Office at (800) 643-7488 or purchase online here.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

For years I have said that they should do an annual bobblehead game. Not sure I'd do it on homecoming though when the crowds are a little better than normal.

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

They picked the right jersey.

 

[WiseAndGlorious]

They shouldn't start giving them away until AFTER the game.

 

[PittGuy00]

That's a great idea but I suspect more people would come to the game if it was given away before the game than after. That's how little people want to stay for an entire game.

 

[HailtoPitt]

For years I have said that they should do an annual bobblehead game. Not sure I'd do it on homecoming though when the crowds are a little better than normal.

Not sure what took them so long. So many possibilities.

 

[DiehardPanther]

They should be given out to season ticket holders first.

 

[ThePanthers]

They should be given out to season ticket holders first.

Defeats the purpose of getting people to the game.

 

[DiehardPanther]

Defeats the purpose of getting people to the game.

They can buy a season ticket then. Don't u think the people that do not get one are going to be upset?

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

They can buy a season ticket then. Don't u think the people that do not get one are going to be upset?

Yeah. Bound to happen. Given our history there'll be some consternation even out of this good idea.

 

[DiehardPanther]

Yeah. Bound to happen. Given our history there'll be some consternation even out of this good idea.

They should have said the first 40,000 season ticket holders get a bobblehead. It would have provided another incentive to buy season tickets. Now they could hypothetically have 20-25k pissed off people because they did not get a bobblehead they wanted. The other option is to just make 60k bobbleheads and any left overs could be sold on the Pitt site. Hopefully this is what they end up doing.

 

[vegasgreed]

you know how pitt works, they had to check with their 137 person committee first...

Not sure what took them so long. So many possibilities.

 

[HailtoPitt]

When the Pirates do a bobblehead night, do they limit the first so many for season tickets holders? Does ANY team do this?

 

[ThePanthers]

It's a promotion to get people that typically don't go to the games on a regular basis to go, and to get them in the stadium early. That is the purpose.

Season ticket holders will be there regardless.

 

[ThePanthers]

When the Pirates do a bobblehead night, do they limit the first so many for season tickets holders? Does ANY team do this?

Nope. This is one thing I actually agree with you on.

 

[DiehardPanther]

It's a promotion to get people that typically don't go to the games on a regular basis to go, and to get them in the stadium early. That is the purpose.

Season ticket holders will be there regardless.

They are only giving away 30,000. That is the biggest problem. Why not just give one away to anyone with a ticket and sell the leftovers on the Pitt site? If someone is simply coming for the bobblehead, then they will get in line early and just leave anyways.

 

[RaleighPittFan]

It's a nice giveaway. But anyone going to a football game for the sole purpose of receiving a plastic bobblehead has bigger issues to deal with.

 

[HailtoPitt]

They are only giving away 30,000. That is the biggest problem. Why not just give one away to anyone with a ticket and sell the leftovers on the Pitt site? If someone is simply coming for the bobblehead, then they will get in line early and just leave anyways.

Who cares. People that want the bobblehead will be there at least 30 minutes before starting time.

 

[PITTLAW]

Not sure what took them so long. So many possibilities.

New AD in town. Hail to Pitt!

 

[ThePanthers]

They are only giving away 30,000. That is the biggest problem. Why not just give one away to anyone with a ticket and sell the leftovers on the Pitt site? If someone is simply coming for the bobblehead, then they will get in line early and just leave anyways.

Create demand/urgency.

 

[Pittx9]

They shouldn't start giving them away until AFTER the game.

Not a bad idea. Not gonna lie, I'll be pretty upset if something happens preventing me from getting there on time and I don't get one. Just for the fact that I'm there every game, sometimes there's only 25-30,000 people there. It would be a damn shame for dedicated season ticket holders to not receive a promotion because 30,000 casual fans that otherwise would never bother going to a pitt-nc state game buy 10 tickets for them self, grab the bobblehead, and leave at halftime.

Considering it is James Conner though, I'm definitely on board with this promotion.

 

[WiseAndGlorious]

It's a promotion to get people that typically don't go to the games on a regular basis to go, and to get them in the stadium early. That is the purpose.

Season ticket holders will be there regardless.

Exactly. It isn't fan appreciation night to reward loyalty. It is a promotion to get people to come out for the thing and hopefully enjoy the experience and want to come back.

Besides, there is nothing preventing you from getting into the stadium 30-60 minutes early to ensure you get one. If you go in for warmups you'll know there ain't 30,000 people in the stadium that early.

 

[WiseAndGlorious]

Not a bad idea. Not gonna lie, I'll be pretty upset if something happens preventing me from getting there on time and I don't get one. Just for the fact that I'm there every game, sometimes there's only 25-30,000 people there. It would be a damn shame for dedicated season ticket holders to not receive a promotion because 30,000 casual fans that otherwise would never bother going to a pitt-nc state game buy 10 tickets for them self, grab the bobblehead, and leave at halftime.

Considering it is James Conner though, I'm definitely on board with this promotion.

If Pitt sells 30,000 tickets for the game to casual fans who wouldn't be going otherwise, that wouldn't be a shame, it would be a smashing success and someone should get a raise.

 

[Saboteur]

It's a nice giveaway. But anyone going to a football game for the sole purpose of receiving a plastic bobblehead has bigger issues to deal with.

Enlighten me as to what they might be.

 

[WiseAndGlorious]

Enlighten me as to what they might be.

For one, they are probably the type that wears a jersey and cargo shorts to the game.

 

[Pittx9]

If Pitt sells 30,000 tickets for the game to casual fans who wouldn't be going otherwise, that wouldn't be a shame, it would be a smashing success and someone should get a raise.

Yes for Pitt athletics department that would be great. I didn't mean it in that way. I'm just saying if by some chance loyal season ticket holders who get stuck in traffic or whatever and miss out while people who never, ever go to a game otherwise get there early enough that'd be a little dissapointing.

I'm not even saying pitt should do anything with this promotion differently. I mean in a perfect world they wouldn't do this and would just give the bobbleheads to season ticket holders. But you're absolutely correct, it's about selling more tickets and that would be fantastic if this brings a packed house to Heinz field.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I mean in a perfect world they wouldn't do this and would just give the bobbleheads to season ticket holders.

The whole idea behind promotions is to get more people in the building, not reward season ticket holders. In a perfect world they would do exactly what they are doing here, with the one exception of somehow magically having the exact same number of bobbleheads on hand as there are people that buy a ticket for the game.

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

Yes for Pitt athletics department that would be great. I didn't mean it in that way. I'm just saying if by some chance loyal season ticket holders who get stuck in traffic or whatever and miss out while people who never, ever go to a game otherwise get there early enough that'd be a little dissapointing.

I'm not even saying pitt should do anything with this promotion differently. I mean in a perfect world they wouldn't do this and would just give the bobbleheads to season ticket holders. But you're absolutely correct, it's about selling more tickets and that would be fantastic if this brings a packed house to Heinz field.

And fantastic if the team would respond with a nice exciting win for this kind of expected crowd.

 

[caleco's]

our homecoming crowds have stunk in recent years. this is a great idea that comes for a good game that will have conf implications at that time of year. now they have to cure that thanksgiving break crowd which is also bad

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Good idea!
Give them to the first 30k in the house and give more out by calling names of seat numbers with people in them throughout the game heavily loaded to the 3rd an 4th qtrs.

 

[Revenge Of The Noise]

our homecoming crowds have stunk in recent years. this is a great idea that comes for a good game that will have conf implications at that time of year. now they have to cure that thanksgiving break crowd which is also bad

Totally. All such things are meant to attract new attendees. It would be nice if there were enough for every fan, and perhaps this lowball number is indeed meant to create a sense of urgency to buy and get in there. Which is smart. Perhaps they'll actually have a lot more made than that so nobody misses out. Either way it's a great idea.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Totally. All such things are meant to attract new attendees. It would be nice if there were enough for every fan, and perhaps this lowball number is indeed meant to create a sense of urgency to buy and get in there. Which is smart. Perhaps they'll actually have a lot more made than that so nobody misses out. Either way it's a great idea.

That would actually be a good idea. Announce there will be 30,000 of them and then actually order 40,000 of them. If anyone says hey, it looks like you gave out a lot more than 30,000 bobbles just say that there was a misunderstanding on the order with the factory and we actually got 40,000 instead of 30,000. You're welcome, extra 10,000 bobble owners!