New USF stadium is a go
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
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It's probably a big reason why many students go to the first game and then stop going. Who wants to wait in those lines? Especially when it gets colder.
I remember emailing Steve P a bunch of ideas as a student that first season for student transport. They were not used to my knowledge.
I gave some ideas when applying for the fake application process of the Fan Experience Committee and I'm sure nobody read them.
Bottom line though, is that you can't polish a turd. And the bus situation is a big one in the punch bowl.
I honestly can't blame them for trying. They watched UCF take the same gamble when USF was living it up in the BCS endowed Big East while UCF was left to wallow in Conference USA/the AAC. Now the tables are turned with USF in a cavernously empty Raymond James in the AAC while UCF is in a Power (whatever number of them there are this week) conference.
I remember people telling the UCF president the risk associated with the cost of building the stadium was too high and him responding that risk associated with having done nothing when the next round of realignment comes was even higher.
Whether that logic will prove right twice is yet to be seen.
It’s bigger than Pittsburgh.
In fact it’s the largest city in Ohio.
Isn't it one of those weird things where Columbus the city is like 3x the size of Pittsburgh but Pittsburgh has the larger metro population? But then I'm pretty sure the Pittsburgh metro population includes some areas that are pretty obviously not Pittsburgh (as does the Columbus metro area, I assume).
It’s not even just waiting in lines, it’s loads of kids crammed into a very tight area in the nasty side of the stadium (loading ducks and garbage dumpsters). I think many of we non-student fans who have been attending at Acrisure over the years know to avoid departing on that side. It’s paralysis.
I don’t think the solution is as easy as Pitt sending in loads more buses coming in much earlier in the game. The wildcard(s) is that a given game may or may not suck, and weather may or may not suck, meaning students may or may not want to leave early from game to game, so arranging for lots of buses ready to leave early might be a waste for one game where everyone stays to the end … but highly desirable to have available for others (that big loss to PsU in the driving rain comes to mind).
So I have no illusion it is an easy solution, but I’m dubious that Pitt has really been all that serious about solving it, or having multiple solutions (such as contingencies for good weather vs bad, big games vs small, exciting close games vs blowouts etc. Somebody here will surely show up willing to defend Pitt to the death on this as they always do at a hint of criticism though…
The modern student section and all the hype surrounding them is a recent phenomenon.
Yeah, IIRC Columbus was one of those metros that did massive annexations up until a decade or so ago. With that being said, they’re going to keep growing if those “Silicon Heartland” predictions turn out to be true, but that’s another topic for another thread.
It’s too bad USF didn’t make that same type of commitment when they were in the Big East because they might’ve missed the boat at this point, unless the ACC or Big 12 needs to backfill.
Yeah, we aren't allowed to criticize. But they haven't really tried hard enough.
Only solution I can think of would be to have more "bus hubs" and have the students register for a specific hub beforehand (so as to manage demand).
Behind Gate C can still be the main hub, but put one or two downtown... or in Station Square... etc. They can take the smelly ass T to get to their bus if they must.
The City of Columbus is much bigger than the city of Pittsburgh, because like many other cities Columbus annexed most of the surrounding areas whereas Pittsburgh did not. But the Pittsburgh metropolitan area is bigger than the Columbus metro area.
City Population: Columbus 905k, Pittsburgh 303k
Metro Population: Pittsburgh 2.46m, Columbus 2.14m
Or if you want another way to look at it, if Pittsburgh had essentially annexed all of Allegheny County (think Philadelphia County), Allegheny County's population is 1.25m.
I couldn’t find any official news, but it appears to have been shelved due to massive opposition/protests from the surrounding community (what else is new in Philly?). They keep on signing short-term lease extensions at the Linc so perhaps there’s still a chance, but I wouldn’t bet on it at this point.
It’s sad because they pretty much had everything in place to do it and were close to “striking when the iron’s hot” after they won the American.
I was at the Clemson at Duke game and they gave a student a gift card for $200 in the 2nd quarter, a $300 gift card in the 3rd quarter and a $1,000 gift card in the 4th quarter.
Duke has coach buses before and after the game transporting fans to and from campus from remote locations.
I dont think they need to register for a bus but there should be buses all over the place in the city and an app telling students where available. Ride the T downtown and get on a school bus there. Ride the ferry and get on a bus in the southside. Have some over by PNC Park, Point State Park, basically everywhere. It is true that is a breeze getting to games on the bus but getting home could be a several hour process.
Are season tickets still like $20? I'd probably charge $100 and rebate them some after their ID is scanned after the game ends.
Well if they don't register beforehand then it would be impossible to know how many busses to send to each location. I'm saying that instead of having all the busses and students clustered in one single location, make it as similar as possible to the other 40,000 people who parked all over the city and will have no trouble getting home because of it.
When there’s even a decent crowd the T also becomes a quagmire. Particularly when evening games and T agents call off. So that is a potential fly in that ointment. But designating bus spots up a little further in the immediate north side from the stadium, or on the other side of the casino, etc … Not TOO bad of a trek for the kids (especially through hobo-infested streets at night) but to locales away from the immediate traffic mess around the stadium, where the bus could even take circular routes back to Oakland. There were some (perhaps now closed?) fast food places near ridge Ave that had lots; or that nasty Giant Eagle near Allegheny Commons ( just keep your head down). Those more willing to walk a bit might actually find they get back faster.
What’s your point. We have to build one because USF built one? Everyone’s situation is different. Give it a rest.
USF is building a $340M on-campus football stadium despite concerns academics are being left behind
The University of South Florida is looking for some big changes when the Tampa school plans to open a new $340 million on-campus football stadium in 2026.apnews.com
That leaves Pitt, Miami, UCLA, and Temple as the only 4 FBS schools who dont have a stadium. Ironically, in the SMU ACC press conference the President said he remembers driving home from an old home game at the Cotton Bowl saying to the AD "we got to get this thing back on campus" and spoke at length about how important being on campus was.
People have been suggesting Pitt do something like that for years. Have they implemented a something similar?
FWIW I took my daughter on a tour of Temple a few weeks ago. Both the student tour guide and the admission counselor (a big college football fan) we spoke to hyped up the Linc and said nothing about a future on campus stadium. I didn't think to bring it up.
It’s too bad; perhaps that investment lands them a spot in the Big 12. A public university located in Philadelphia with a new on-campus stadium? Who knows…
I've been attending Pitt games since 1971....In my opinion, the overall game day experience is much better at Acrisure / Heinz field for several reasons
* The stands to the playing field is closer to the action. No running track separating the field from the fans.
* Because the fans are closer to the field, Acrisure is more intimidating and louder to an opponent.
The two major reasons I'm against a stadium in Oakland besides the huge investment:
* The pre-game tailgating was non-existent at Pitt Stadium. It's great at Acrisure.
* Once you are no longer a student, you had to drive to the games. Getting in and out of Oakland on game day was a nightmare. Trying to find a parking space was even worse.
A little perspective:
- From the UCLA campus to the Rose Bowl is 26 miles. Yet it didn't stop the Big Ten from inviting them.
- The journey time between State College and Beaver Stadium is around 17 minutes and covers a distance of around 2 miles.
- From South Carolina campus to William Brice Stadium is 1.8 miles
There are many other examples, but it won't do any good in convincing the campus stadium crowd
****I would rather use the money to retain coaches and hire better recruiters than to spend money on a stadium that will only be used for 6 games per year.****
Like I said earlier, fans don't want a new stadium because they can be back as t the crib in Cranberry in 30 minutes. Other programs' fans don't care much about the traffic to and leaving their stadium. But at Pitt its all about the traffic. Lol. One reason why we fail.
The other things... like site lines be proximity the field would have been fixed with a new stadium.
misstakeUSF is building a $340M on-campus football stadium despite concerns academics are being left behind
The University of South Florida is looking for some big changes when the Tampa school plans to open a new $340 million on-campus football stadium in 2026.
That leaves Pitt, Miami, UCLA, and Temple as the only 4 FBS schools who dont have a stadium. Ironically, in the SMU ACC press conference the President said he remembers driving home from an old home game at the Cotton Bowl saying to the AD "we got to get this thing back on campus" and spoke at length about how important being on campus was.
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Let’s make a comparison…The Pitt campus is 3 miles from Acrisure Stadium. Beaver Stadium is 2 miles from campus. So for one extra mile, you want donors, the city and the University to build a stadium a 350 million dollar stadium for 6 games per year? Is there land available in Oakland to build the stadium if they can raise the money? I don’t see any…
How will this 350 million dollar stadium help the football program? No one can answer that question in a coherent and logical way.
If the stadium Pitt is using was 15 to 25 miles away (Miami, UCLA) then I might support building one closer to campus. But if there’s no land to build the stadium (including parking), then they would have to build it a few miles away…. WAIT! They already have one a few miles away and it didn’t cost them 350 million dollars!
Hail - With all due respect, you are looking at this emotionally and not rationally.
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Maybe, but it's better for Pitt to have their own stadium for a number of reasons.
Reason #3478 just happened with the parking email that went out this week.
Yeah, it would be way better to be in Oakland and not have parking for tailgaiting in the first place than to be somewhere where there are places to tailgait but the parking lot attendants tell you where to park.
The horror!
Seems pretty lame being told where you have to park. Did that happen in Oakland?
It seems a pretty lame thing to be complaining about.
Like I said, way better to not have a place to tailgait than to have one but be told where to park, right?
And for the record, there are lots of places that if you actually go watch Pitt play on the road that tell you where to park. They do at Penn State. The do at Notre Dame. They do at Navy. It's been a long time, but they did at Temple when I went there.
And of course they do for the Stillers in the exact same parking lots.
And of course they do for the Stillers in the exact same parking lots.
Pitt had 80ish years to update Pitt Stadium while it was up to keep it competitive. But it never did.
After letting it get demolished, Pitt then has had over 20 years to plan for a new on campus stadium. It never has.
And that was during the past decade when the ACC brought improved revenue and the football program saw increased success and student interest. It still never did even consider to do it.
And now the ACC and much of college football in general is in chaos. The viability of the program is back in serious doubt again. Many things can happen, most of them not great for Pitt football, at least long term. If things go particularly poorly it could force Pitt to drop the sport entirely. This would be the worst, worst, worst case scenario and the current likelihood of it is probably minimal. BUT it is possible (again).
So … a new stadium wasn’t happening before, but sure as hell isn’t happening now.
After letting it get demolished, Pitt then has had over 20 years to plan for a new on campus stadium. It never has.
And that was during the past decade when the ACC brought improved revenue and the football program saw increased success and student interest. It still never did even consider to do it.
And now the ACC and much of college football in general is in chaos. The viability of the program is back in serious doubt again. Many things can happen, most of them not great for Pitt football, at least long term. If things go particularly poorly it could force Pitt to drop the sport entirely. This would be the worst, worst, worst case scenario and the current likelihood of it is probably minimal. BUT it is possible (again).
So … a new stadium wasn’t happening before, but sure as hell isn’t happening now.
As a thought exercise, if the Steelers were to build a Westmoreland or Washington county stadium at the end of their Acrisure lease and the stadium authority sold Arcisure to Pitt and you were in charge of right sizing the stadium for Pitt, what method would you take?
Remove the upperdeck and replace it with a smaller lower capacity upper deck?
Make all the seats however many inches wider needed so there are 3 to 5 fewer seats per row?
Permanently remove the upper decks and replace the lower bowl's seatback chairs(club level excluded) with bleachers with narrower seat widths so you could fit 45,000 to 55,000 in the lower bowl?
Something else?
Remove the upperdeck and replace it with a smaller lower capacity upper deck?
Make all the seats however many inches wider needed so there are 3 to 5 fewer seats per row?
Permanently remove the upper decks and replace the lower bowl's seatback chairs(club level excluded) with bleachers with narrower seat widths so you could fit 45,000 to 55,000 in the lower bowl?
Something else?
If you’re knocking out the upper deck, let’s get some gondolas up there that connect to the OC Lot. Perfect shot from one to the other. You could even get the Lower Hill in on it, too.
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This is exactly the kind of outside the box thinking needed here.
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