No new stadium?: Then make Heinz smaller
- Thread starter TIGER-PAUL
- Start date
Pitt verses Cincinnati in the Mardy Gilyard Invitation proves your point to be wrong.
You can make fun. I have no beef with you. I just hate the 0% chance saying (in general) There is always a chance. Is it good? Well, that is a different story all together. Faith and hope are a part of life. Doesn't matter in what aspect. I will still donate, go to games, because I love Pitt football. But I can also curse the decision to tear down the stadium and hold out hope for a new stadium. If someday I become a billionaire, I am sure I can drive a new stadium. Again, can't say there is 0% chance of that happening.
I don't mean to make fun. I admire you for having hope. But as they say in investing and business, hope is not a strategy. And right now and for decades into the future, there is and will not be a strategy for building any new stadium on the Pitt campus. Before they do that, new educational buildings will be built with no thought of a new stadium. That's just the reality.
I suppose that in 100 years if they're still playing football, which is up for debate, Pitt might have torn down something and might have the land and roads available for access. But in 100 years, college sports will not look as it does today and football may be a distant memory, for those who can remember.
I think your hope and energy can be better used elsewhere.
I would tarp for the big games too. And I would do just like they do with the PSU game. If you are season ticket holder, you get first crack at the games. Otherwise, you have to wait for the tickets on the resell market. Less tickets, resold prices should be higher.
If people know you are going to open it up for the big games, they will either wait for the singles or the resell prices will be lower.
Make a statement. The capacity is the capacity.
I'm not sure I agree with the idea of tarping the stadium to reduce capacity to match the current level of fans who attend, coupled with raising ticket prices.
Demand can't be artificially raised. All that will do is removed the casual fans who are currently attending because of the low ticket prices.
That scenario sounds to me like a recipe for fewer fans, tarps, and yellow seats.
Demand can't be artificially raised. All that will do is removed the casual fans who are currently attending because of the low ticket prices.
That scenario sounds to me like a recipe for fewer fans, tarps, and yellow seats.
Tarp the Upper Deck Opposite the Camera. Set the capacity and do not change it. I also think Pitt should move to the side of the field that contains the Great Hall. A lot more to see and do on that side, and easier access getting into the stadium.
I think you went a little deeper into this than you needed to. Because the seats don't move there is no way you could put the field on a home plate to center field location. So you need to fit it in down one of the lines. If the first base line was the back of the end zone on one side and the third base line was one of the sidelines, well it's only 325 feet, 108.3 yards, from home plate to the left field seats. Not enough room for a football field, obviously. And if you put the field the other way, third base line is the back of the end zone and the first base line is one of the sidelines, well it's only 320 feet, 106.6 yards, from home plate to the right field seats. There is just no way that a full sized football field fits into PNC park with the way it was constructed.
Well yeah, I guess using math and logic instead of google-map satellite view measuring size with post it note on monitor works too.
Hey, I did the map and post it note thing to show pretty clearly that the full sized stadium that a certain someone keeps pimping out for the OC lot area doesn't actually fit either. It's a fun way to waste a little time!
Before they even go ahead and tarp it, just worry about getting the crowd together. So be it if the whole upper deck is empty and not tarped but.... have some system in place where depedent on tickets sold, instead of fans being scattered everywhere, maybe have people for no charge upgrade their tickets at the gate and fill in the stadium from the bottom up.
Personally I don't care if I'm the only person in the stadium. But, in all reality, what shouldn't matter is if the empty upper deck is tarped or not. The only attendance issue that should matter though is if there are empty seats, they are only in the upper deck. The yellow seats just make the scattered crowd look emptier than it is. Hell once they get all the paying customers in and if they could move some to better seats to pack the crowd in better, just let people in for free after the kickoff to sit up top.
Obviously this isn't something I've thought long and hard about and I don't think it's the best plan, but point is... tarp or no tarp they just need to get the crowd packed in better, and then once they do, they can worry about selling out the rest of the stadium.
Personally I don't care if I'm the only person in the stadium. But, in all reality, what shouldn't matter is if the empty upper deck is tarped or not. The only attendance issue that should matter though is if there are empty seats, they are only in the upper deck. The yellow seats just make the scattered crowd look emptier than it is. Hell once they get all the paying customers in and if they could move some to better seats to pack the crowd in better, just let people in for free after the kickoff to sit up top.
Obviously this isn't something I've thought long and hard about and I don't think it's the best plan, but point is... tarp or no tarp they just need to get the crowd packed in better, and then once they do, they can worry about selling out the rest of the stadium.
Give me one year that we averaged 70k. Then let me know what year we averaged 60k. Averaging 50k should be the year-to-year goal if people are realistic. 55k-60k would be realistic if Pitt ever reached top 10.
I think that side is in the sun longer. I would guess that is why that is the visitors side.
Demand is tied to supply. Supply goes down, price/value goes up. So, yes, maybe some casual fans wont attend because Stubhub tickets are $10 more than they are now but if the result is a stadium that looks fuller, feels fuller, and increases the value of the ticket (hence, season ticket holders will be incented to sell if they cant make it because their ticket is worth something now), thats a good thing.
Pitt traditionally plays 7 home games, and 5 of those are usually played in temperatures that are 70 or below. The games at the end of the year you want as much warmth as possible. Another reason why they should switch sides.
you are crazy.. stay in that shady side.. that sun for the first few games is sickening. last year's opener, the shade side was filled, even the corners, from people getting cooked in the sun.. I had seats down low, had to take my kids up to the 600 section in the corner to get them out of the sun, whole section was empty at kickoff, filled by 3rd quarter.. ysu, ok state and rice will all be at noon or 1pm, because that's what we do, and you want no parts of the sunny side..
By the time mid November comes around, it's gray and blah in Pittsburgh til march, there will be no warmth on either side..
I can guarantee you this strategy will not sit well with the people actually paying more money for their seats.
Have you ever sat in the heat? The Noon game starts, its blistering. No thanks. I'm pretty sure the coaches like having their players in the shade while the others side cooks a little longer.
Just proving how big of a joke Heinz Field is. I hate Heinz so much. There aren't other alternatives for Pitt, and we need to pray the Rooney's stay on the North Shore.
Yes. The players are still in the sun for noon starts in September. Moot point.
So what you are saying is that I can buy my upper deck seat and when I get there on gameday, I can move down because someone didn't show?
First, how do they know who didn't show or who was just running late? If that is the case, sign me up. But if I was someone paying in the lower bowl and you gave my seat away for a game. I would want refunded.
Putting a tarp would naturally force people lower.
We have season tickets on the home side and get fried for Noon games that are hot. We do not get any relieve until late in the game. Pitt fans are not going to show up or leave early no matter what, so that point is stupid.
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yeah but are they in second quarter, second half? Honestly, I don't know. I know the stands are. Not sure if pitt gets luxury of shade on our home noon games or not. I'd say we do on later home games but I don't think we ever get those, outside of the Thursday night games of course..
Yeah. Well I do believe one of Pitt's biggest problems is the cheapness of their season tickets, allowing people to cherry pick games without feeling really any pain just eating the other tickets. For example, if you are used to going to Steeler or Pens games, and shelling out over $100 a seat for a game, what is the $25 I would throw away against Youngstown State? Or if it is cold and rainy?
If you reduce capacity, this should allow you to raise prices. Just having thousands of tickets available at cheap prices do one of two things, a) it allows the enemy (PSU, ND, WVU) to pick up easy tickets to their game here and b) create a rotten atmosphere because for the most part, people are going to go to the game or they aren't. So you have these huge swaths of empty yellow, a boring atmosphere, somewhat embarrassing, not a good look because again, some genius in the Steeler organization decided that it would be a great idea to make the seats fluorescent yellow.
The villanova game last year, I kid you not, the "shade side" was filled up all they way in the second half, to get the hell out of the sun.. Not sure about down low, maybe they didn't get relief from the sun til later in the game, not sure..
Another reason why these noon home games are annoying yet we seem to always get them.. and the later in the season home games seem to be later, would be nice if we could flip that.
I have no clue if the shade hits the players though, on noon games, probably not. I think the coaches worry about other things moreso than getting their players shade during the games.
The next coach employing strategies because he is worried about his players being colder than the other team might be the first. Sure they have hand warmers and heaters, but that is mandated for both side. Whereas there are numerous examples of coaches trying to gain strategic advantage to maintain hydration in warm temps... pickle juice, monitoring urine color, heck it was the genesis of Gatorade.
Pros to moving to the other side.
1) Great Hall - more things for fans to do
2) Easier Access Getting into the Stadium
3) Camera angles show that side of the Field
Cons to moving to that side.
1) A portion of some early games are not getting shade while others are getting shade. This could be combatted by playing later games earlier in the year.
Those are reasons why YOU, as a fan, would want to move to that side. There is nothing wrong with that and you can choose to do so if you like.
Those are not reasons that the football team should move to that sideline. That con is the reason why both Pitt and the Steelers use the sideline they do.
im not going to begin to tell you I know why they are on the side they are. sun, shade? I have no clue.. you sound like you want to be on pitt's side though, as a fan, that is something I've never considered as a priority. is there a difference, from where you sit, as to being on PItt's side vs the opponent's? Is it cool to see pitt players up close on the sideline maybe? Why do you have to be on the same side as pitt?
From the team's viewpoint - it is better to have more Pitt fans on your side of the field to give you a little extra energy. From a fan's viewpoint - it is better to see the team on your side. You can see guys who are injured, you can see the body language of the team, and you can see the animation of the coaches.
How exactly is that going to solve the pros I proposed that happen inside the stadium?
Just trying to help you out. So you want the team to switch sides so you can hang out in the Great Hall? How much can you do in there?
Parking on the other side would give you better access to the seats. Point 2 would be solved.
I'm not sure what the camera angle issue is. Point 3 is a non issue.
My wife and I take our two boys to the games. Depending on what is going on, we park on the North Shore, or sometimes, actually in town. I pack a polish cooler and we enjoy the walk. Sometimes we go to the great hall sometimes we don't. Then we make the walk to our seats. Never had an issue getting there before game time.
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