I'm just a Pitt fan, not an alumni, so maybe I just don't understand. You went to a school that is similar to Boston College, Miami and Georgia Tech, yet some of you seem to expect a football experience similar to Penn State, Michigan or Nebraska. Why do you let Penn St fans and the local media get in your heads about attendance? Pitt does well for a school of it's size and location, although we all would like to see it do even better.
An on-campus stadium would be nice to have, but is it worth several hundred million dollars just to provide a slightly better game day experience? Looking at Pitt's attendance history I can't believe it would make much of a difference, other than the optics of 40,000 fans in a 45,000 seat stadium as opposed to 70,000. Perhaps a few hundred more alumni and students would show up, but to a non-alum it might actually be something of a deterrent. Oakland can be a bit of a pain when 12,000 show up for a Duke hoops game.
From my seats the Heinz Field experience is fine. Sure, I look up at the upper sections and think they would look better if full, but it really doesn't bother me much. For Pitt to improve attendance I think they need to attract local football fans by winning. Building an on-campus stadium to please students and alumni just doesn't seem like it would have much effect on whether or not they show up.
To some recruits, having 80,000 people cheering for them rather than 40,000 will make a difference. Others may be more impressed with sharing a practice facility with one of the NFL's premier franchises. If Lyke has a few hundred million dollars to spend on football, she should ask Narduzzi how he would like to see it spent. I doubt if he would list a new stadium as his first priority.
An on-campus stadium would be nice to have, but is it worth several hundred million dollars just to provide a slightly better game day experience? Looking at Pitt's attendance history I can't believe it would make much of a difference, other than the optics of 40,000 fans in a 45,000 seat stadium as opposed to 70,000. Perhaps a few hundred more alumni and students would show up, but to a non-alum it might actually be something of a deterrent. Oakland can be a bit of a pain when 12,000 show up for a Duke hoops game.
From my seats the Heinz Field experience is fine. Sure, I look up at the upper sections and think they would look better if full, but it really doesn't bother me much. For Pitt to improve attendance I think they need to attract local football fans by winning. Building an on-campus stadium to please students and alumni just doesn't seem like it would have much effect on whether or not they show up.
To some recruits, having 80,000 people cheering for them rather than 40,000 will make a difference. Others may be more impressed with sharing a practice facility with one of the NFL's premier franchises. If Lyke has a few hundred million dollars to spend on football, she should ask Narduzzi how he would like to see it spent. I doubt if he would list a new stadium as his first priority.