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Romanticizing Pitt Stadium Attendance

this is why I shake my head at all the pitt fans that get upset on a weekly basis on attendance numbers. We have a 40+ sample here, this is what it is.. 40+ years is a good enough sample folks, it's not a trend, 40 years is a large sample base. There is no magic elixir to get us to 50k consistently, it wont happen. Not even if we put together a few great years, it STILL wont happen.. we have our base, this is what it is.. Accept this and enjoy it.. Small improvements can happen, sure.. I'd love for us to get a consistent 45k, actual butts in seats, for the average home games and get those nice big crowds for the nd/psu/wvu games.. That would be great and I believe our ceiling..

I just don't understand when pitt fans hope that 52k show up for a Georgia tech , or 49 k for a Syracuse game.. Why would you realistically expect this? How many years and decades do you need to see before you realize, this isn't a fluke, this is what it is?
 
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Swervin27 said:
im as big a proponent of an on campus stadium as there is on this board. North shore is blah, Heinz field is cookie cutter boring. all that said, I have done a lot of looking up attendance with regards to pitt stadium. Now used wiki so who the hell knows where that number comes from but I can tell you, with regards to some decent, above average (But not great) pitt teams in mid to late 80s, the attendance numbers are very surprisingly low.


What jumped out at me is the bad games,, the numbers were disastrously low. I am talking like low 20k low and this is some good pitt teams playing on a Saturday against your typical boring teams. Now the better games, well they weren't as great as I'd suspect either. so take '87, very solid squad, 7-3 team, ranked playing kent state, gets 35k. Kent state sucks but 35k? That's brutal. Take '88, average year, 3 home games in a row, mid season against temple, navy, Rutgers we get 32k, 34, and 20k. 20k? That's a pirate game crowd..


When pushing the on campus stadium angle, do not go the "attendance will increase" route because it wont. There are a thousand other angles to play, a thousand advantages or perks but pure numbers isn't one of them..
Click to expand...

We've had 30K at HF too.
 
UPitt '89 said:
From 1973 to 1999, Pitt's average home attendance was 40,902. There were 158 home games played over those 27 years.

<30k: 23
30-40k: 49
40-50k: 40
50-60k: 41
>60k: 5

In 2000, Pitt played at Three Rivers Stadium and averaged 40,866.

<30k: 0
30-40k: 3
40-50k: 2
50-60k: 1

From 2001 to present, Pitt's average home attendance has been 46,298. There have been 104 home games over those 16 years.

<30k: 0
30-40k: 24
40-50k: 50
50-60k: 15
>60k: 15

There have been 20 home Pitt games played in front of 60,000+ fans since 1973... and 15 of those are in Heinz Field.

There have been 77 home Pitt games played in front of 50,000+ fans since 1973... and 30 of those have been in Heinz Field.





Here's Pitt's attendance by year, with stadium capacity in (), and record and final rank since 1973:

1973: 33,609 (56,500) 6-5-1
1974: 41,279 (56,500) 7-4-0
1975: 42,022 (56,500) 8-4-0 (#15)
1976: 45,405 (56,500) 12-0-0 (#1)
1977: 44,181 (56,500) 9-2-1 (#8)
1978: 49,472 (56,500) 8-4-0
1979: 41,029 (56,500) 11-1-0 (#7)
1980: 44,342 (56,500) 11-1-0 (#2)
1981: 50,854 (56,500) 11-1-0 (#4)
1982: 54,809 (56,500) 9-3-0 (#10)
1983: 49,905 (56,500) 8-3-1 (#18)
1984: 32,337 (56,500) 3-7-1
1985: 41,758 (56,500) 5-5-1
1986: 46,498 (56,500) 6-4-1
1987: 47,982 (56,500) 8-4-0
1988: 41,692 (56,500) 6-5-0
1989: 43,866 (56,500) 8-3-1 (#17)
1990: 38,290 (56,500) 3-7-1
1991: 36,362 (56,500) 6-5-0
1992: 32,687 (56,500) 3-9-0
1993: 30,184 (56,500) 3-8-0
1994: 31,566 (56,500) 3-8-0
1995: 33,145 (56,500) 2-9-0
1996: 30,796 (56,500) 4-7-0
1997: 39,710 (56,500) 6-6-0
1998: 39,433 (56,500) 2-9-0
1999: 41,138 (56,500) 5-6-0

2000: 40,866 (59,000) 7-5-0

2001: 48,915 (65,050) 7-4-0
2002: 44,424 (65,050) 9-4-0 (#19)
2003: 59,197 (65,050) 8-5-0
2004: 41,600 (65,050) 8-4-0 (#25)
2005: 40,272 (65,050) 5-6-0
2006: 43,305 (65,050) 6-6-0
2007: 33,314 (65,050) 5-7-0
2008: 49,352 (65,050) 9-4-0
2009: 53,438 (65,050) 10-3-0 (#15)
2010: 52,165 (65,050) 8-5-0
2011: 46,003 (65,050) 6-7-0
2012: 41,494 (65,050) 6-7-0
2013: 49,741 (65,050) 7-6-0
2014: 41,315 (65,050) 6-7-0
2015: 48,150 (68,400) 8-5-0
2016: 48,080 (68,400) 7-4-0
Click to expand...
Interesting, but a few of those years included games at 3RS....74/75/76.
 
Bottom line is if PITT leadership wanted an on campus stadium one would be there by now.
Answer- They don't want a PITT owned football asset ( with fixed costs) that might have to be written off one day if they decide football isn't right for PITT.

On the other hand Temple is commited to a football program and made it happen despite a difficult environment.

When a company goes into a new product line that they're unsure about they typically use a 3rd party to produce the product until they decide this is a business we want to be in and at that time they build a production plant.
Same analysis going on at PITT!
The football program is going in the right direction so I say there will be an on campus stadium at PTT in the next 10 years if this progress continues.

Its simple and obvious!
 
Our best option right now is Heinz Field. Period. If you want to whine about it, you have that right. But it's not changing in the near or far future. An on-campus stadium is not happening in at least the next 50 years. It's not economically or logistically feasible and Pitt has higher priorities.

If the wimpy, pussy students can't make it to the games because it's too far for them or it inconveniences them, tough. I'm sick of them and their entitlement attitude and then not showing up for games no matter where they are. We have an on-campus basketball arena and the few students that do show up are not anything close to what we used to have 5 or 10 years ago. If we had an on-campus football stadium, it would be the same thing. Few students would show up and there would be all kinds of excuses why they didn't. They're probably too busy protesting something that they have no idea what they're protesting about.
 
SoufOaklin4Life said:
So, what happened in 1984?
Click to expand...
Do you believe that even to this day the damage over Jackie Sherrill has been fixed with a boatload of supporters? It sure wasn't fixed in 84 and Foge happened! Foge was disappointing from day 1 when he took a Pitt team which won the Sugar bowl the year before and and managed to turn a an explosive team with Marino at QB to one that struggled at times scoring. After a pretty good year under Foge the year before( I believe Pitt played in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State) the bottom fell out , and people even resented the Pitt admin. more for having screwed up the coaching situation. You can't even make up the stupid things the Pitt admin. has done in managing athletics....
 
Can we please stop talking about the f**king Mosque site? It is already the most congested and well-traveled intersection in Oakland. Not to mention it would just look f**king strange sitting amongst all of these academic buildings. Most schools want their stadiums in areas where they can expand them and make them a complete facility with offices, suites, weight rooms, etc. The last thing they want is to land lock themselves, trapping this thing among properties they already own and couldn't justify tearing down because they're kind of essential to the functions of the Goddamned school.
 
jtownknowitall said:
Or perhaps the bulk of today's students just aren't sports fans.
Click to expand...

Or they just don't want to spend time riding in a school bus to sit in a half empty stadium with bright yellow seats and surrounded by Steelers stuff. Only then to wait in long lines if they stay until the end to get back on the yellow school buses. It amazes me how some people continue to blame the fans and students, instead of admitting the real problem.
 
CorsosRevenge said:
Can we please stop talking about the f**king Mosque site? It is already the most congested and well-traveled intersection in Oakland. Not to mention it would just look f**king strange sitting amongst all of these academic buildings. Most schools want their stadiums in areas where they can expand them and make them a complete facility with offices, suites, weight rooms, etc. The last thing they want is to land lock themselves, trapping this thing among properties they already own and couldn't justify tearing down because they're kind of essential to the functions of the Goddamned school.
Click to expand...

A new stadium would look awesome there.
 
wbrpanther said:
Check the stats from when we had our own right sized stadium. Largest attendance by far was the 54 thou plus in "82. Do you know what else happened in '82? Pro football was on strike. Pitt was the only game in town thru late October.

The crowds wouldn't be bigger in our own stadium. they would only look better.
Click to expand...
Also, the opening game in 82 was played at Three Rivers to usher in CBS's return to broadcasting college football at night. It was a big event against North Carolina.
 
UPitt '89 said:
From 1973 to 1999, Pitt's average home attendance was 40,902. There were 158 home games played over those 27 years.

<30k: 23
30-40k: 49
40-50k: 40
50-60k: 41
>60k: 5

In 2000, Pitt played at Three Rivers Stadium and averaged 40,866.

<30k: 0
30-40k: 3
40-50k: 2
50-60k: 1

From 2001 to present, Pitt's average home attendance has been 46,298. There have been 104 home games over those 16 years.

<30k: 0
30-40k: 24
40-50k: 50
50-60k: 15
>60k: 15

There have been 20 home Pitt games played in front of 60,000+ fans since 1973... and 15 of those are in Heinz Field.

There have been 77 home Pitt games played in front of 50,000+ fans since 1973... and 30 of those have been in Heinz Field.





Here's Pitt's attendance by year, with stadium capacity in (), and record and final rank since 1973:

1973: 33,609 (56,500) 6-5-1
1974: 41,279 (56,500) 7-4-0
1975: 42,022 (56,500) 8-4-0 (#15)
1976: 45,405 (56,500) 12-0-0 (#1)
1977: 44,181 (56,500) 9-2-1 (#8)
1978: 49,472 (56,500) 8-4-0
1979: 41,029 (56,500) 11-1-0 (#7)
1980: 44,342 (56,500) 11-1-0 (#2)
1981: 50,854 (56,500) 11-1-0 (#4)
1982: 54,809 (56,500) 9-3-0 (#10)
1983: 49,905 (56,500) 8-3-1 (#18)
1984: 32,337 (56,500) 3-7-1
1985: 41,758 (56,500) 5-5-1
1986: 46,498 (56,500) 6-4-1
1987: 47,982 (56,500) 8-4-0
1988: 41,692 (56,500) 6-5-0
1989: 43,866 (56,500) 8-3-1 (#17)
1990: 38,290 (56,500) 3-7-1
1991: 36,362 (56,500) 6-5-0
1992: 32,687 (56,500) 3-9-0
1993: 30,184 (56,500) 3-8-0
1994: 31,566 (56,500) 3-8-0
1995: 33,145 (56,500) 2-9-0
1996: 30,796 (56,500) 4-7-0
1997: 39,710 (56,500) 6-6-0
1998: 39,433 (56,500) 2-9-0
1999: 41,138 (56,500) 5-6-0

2000: 40,866 (59,000) 7-5-0

2001: 48,915 (65,050) 7-4-0
2002: 44,424 (65,050) 9-4-0 (#19)
2003: 59,197 (65,050) 8-5-0
2004: 41,600 (65,050) 8-4-0 (#25)
2005: 40,272 (65,050) 5-6-0
2006: 43,305 (65,050) 6-6-0
2007: 33,314 (65,050) 5-7-0
2008: 49,352 (65,050) 9-4-0
2009: 53,438 (65,050) 10-3-0 (#15)
2010: 52,165 (65,050) 8-5-0
2011: 46,003 (65,050) 6-7-0
2012: 41,494 (65,050) 6-7-0
2013: 49,741 (65,050) 7-6-0
2014: 41,315 (65,050) 6-7-0
2015: 48,150 (68,400) 8-5-0
2016: 48,080 (68,400) 7-4-0
Click to expand...
I hope this puts to bed once and for all the importance of ann on campus stadium. Pitt stadium was a dump and there was NO parking.
 
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quip said:
I hope this puts to bed once and for all the importance of ann on campus stadium. Pitt stadium was a dump and there was NO parking.
Click to expand...

Yet... people showed up roughly in the same numbers as they do now at Heinz Field.
 
Heinz is great for people that prefer parking, getting home quickly and having seat backs over the actual football game..
 
LOL!!!!

If you guys don't like the idea of tarping the upper level end zone, Pitt could invest in 10,000 or more mannequins and put them in the upper level end zone.

People driving by Heinz on Friday, will say some Pitt fans are so enthusiastic about the game that they will sit in the upper level end zone a full day before game time.

Tarps or Mannequins

AD Barnes get it done.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!
 
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Great idea. Let's spend 100s of millions of dollars to have worse facilities and downgrade the fan experience. Brilliant.

Take a road trip to East Lansing- you will appreciate Heinz when you get back.

Funny thing is Pitt currently owns the 14th longest bowl streak and will move up a few spots after this season. That's already pretty consistent.



Delpanther said:
I expect the program to reach a level of consistency that goes beyond a period of 8 years which isn't that long of a period relative to how long Pitt's program was in the dumper. And, more importantly, i expect that the Pitt admin, won't pull the plug on the program like they did in 1982 when they pushed out Sherrill and pissed off every Pitt fan because we knew he was one of the top coaches in all of college FB. The attendance will rise with the consistency of the program's on the field performance. Pitt hasn't earned any automatic loyalty from alumni due to their mismangaement of the FB program. Will Pitt ever draw 65-75k per game? Given the size of the alumni base, probably not. I believe they are capable, however, of drawing 55k regularly to a right sized on campus stadium. That's a reasonable objective.
Click to expand...
 
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I doubt 50% of Pitt's seats are filled with people who even know the name Jackie Sherrill. That was 3 decades ago. Half of the people who attended his last game at Pitt are probably dead by now.

Get over your sprained clit and move on.

Delpanther said:
Do you believe that even to this day the damage over Jackie Sherrill has been fixed with a boatload of supporters? It sure wasn't fixed in 84 and Foge happened! Foge was disappointing from day 1 when he took a Pitt team which won the Sugar bowl the year before and and managed to turn a an explosive team with Marino at QB to one that struggled at times scoring. After a pretty good year under Foge the year before( I believe Pitt played in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State) the bottom fell out , and people even resented the Pitt admin. more for having screwed up the coaching situation. You can't even make up the stupid things the Pitt admin. has done in managing athletics....
Click to expand...
 
joeydavid said:
I doubt 50% of Pitt's seats are filled with people who even know the name Jackie Sherrill. That was 3 decades ago. Half of the people who attended his last game at Pitt are probably dead by now.

Get over your sprained clit and move on.
Click to expand...
You're an idiot.. You won't get over that...it's a permanent condition
 
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joeydavid said:
Great idea. Let's spend 100s of millions of dollars to have worse facilities and downgrade the fan experience. Brilliant.

Take a road trip to East Lansing- you will appreciate Heinz when you get back.

Funny thing is Pitt currently owns the 14th longest bowl streak and will move up a few spots after this season. That's already pretty consistent.
Click to expand...
You're a few bricks shy of a load, truly stupid.
 
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UPitt '89 said:
3-7-1 happened.
Click to expand...
I mean, it fulfills the criteria of sustained year after year success, was on campus.

if support
Delpanther said:
Do you believe that even to this day the damage over Jackie Sherrill has been fixed with a boatload of supporters? It sure wasn't fixed in 84 and Foge happened! Foge was disappointing from day 1 when he took a Pitt team which won the Sugar bowl the year before and and managed to turn a an explosive team with Marino at QB to one that struggled at times scoring. After a pretty good year under Foge the year before( I believe Pitt played in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State) the bottom fell out , and people even resented the Pitt admin. more for having screwed up the coaching situation. You can't even make up the stupid things the Pitt admin. has done in managing athletics....
Click to expand...
so you a knowledge despite having 6-7 years of consistent high performing teams, which was your criteria...
Support cratered the next year.

In other words, your narrative is wrong because no school
Performs at a consistently high level over decades.
 
SoufOaklin4Life said:
I mean, it fulfills the criteria of sustained year after year success, was on campus.

if support

so you a knowledge despite having 6-7 years of consistent high performing teams, which was your criteria...
Support cratered the next year.

In other words, your narrative is wrong because no school
Performs at a consistently high level over decades.
Click to expand...
You're consistent... Consistently dumb. Reread what I said , chemist.
 
HailtoPitt said:
Pitt Law 04 and I are both right and I could not disagree more with your analysis. The population has nothing to do with college football attendance. What about those schools in the Midwest were populations have also shrank... yet their stadiums have continued to see the need for expansions. In addition, Pitt and those other schools have all likely seen increased in enrollment over the decades. Population decline is not an excuse.

Pitt's attendance at Heinz has been almost exactly the same as it was at Pitt Stadium in the 1980s. When we were rolling out 2 and 3 win teams in the 1990s, yes the attendance went down from what it is not at Heinz AND what it was previous at Pitt Stadium. In the 90s Pitt avergaed somewhere between 7 and 8 wins per season. In Pitt's 16 years ate Heinz, the average amount of wins is between 7 and 8. But... the same attendance.

Yes, we aren't sitting on shitty metal bleachers, and using an outdated stadium with terrible bathrooms and a track around the field... and yet... attendance is comparable to when similar successful teams were playing in the 80s. Why is that? Pitt's administration pretty much instituted self imposed sanctions on the program. They chose not to update Pitt Stadium. Where was the campaign improve it? (calling a few trustees on the phone doesn't count as a campaign, except at Pitt). Were was the commitment to keep great coaches when Pitt had them? Pitt dropped the ball BIG TIME, and of course, it's the fans fault because we don't donate enough. Laughable.

Bottom line. Heinz Field sucks for college football. An on campus stadium is vastly superior. Until we do something about that, we are going to continue the streak of mediocrity. Recruits know this. Fans know this. Everyone knows this. Some of you try to pretend that this isn't true, but you are only kidding yourselves.
Click to expand...
Pitt stadium wasn't superior.
Oakland isn't magic
 
Delpanther said:
You're consistent... Consistently dumb. Reread what I said , chemist.
Click to expand...
Delpanther said: ↑
Check out 81 snd 82 when Pitt had finally put together 6-7 excellent years. It 's all about condistent performance on the field . You guys over analyze everything and come to all the wrong conclusions.

Dissipated in less than 1 season.

Your expectations are a fairy tale
 
HailtoPitt said:
30 years ago. Same attendance. Any reasonable person knows that it should be much more compared to the tremendous growth of college football
Click to expand...
Average FBS Division 1 attendance for 2015...43,933. According to Upitts post, Pitt has been 2,300 over that since 2001 at 46,298
 
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Let's be honest here. Take into account that the attendance figures "announced" at Heinz Field have been way over-inflated for years. The game against UCONN years ago maybe had 15,000 people and was announced as 40,000. So I don't buy the modern numbers as legit whatsoever. No one should.
 
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How many teams played D1 football 30 years ago? How has the population in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas changed? College football "growth" has fueled in part by massive expansion.

And yet through ups and downs along with playing in 3 different stadiums- Pitt's attendance hasn't really changed. This isn't a puzzle worth solving. Find the best, cost effective place to play because your revenue base isn't changing. Frankly, it would be a bad business decision to pay for a new stadium until they needed to do so. At this point Heinz is the best answer until it no longer exists.

HailtoPitt said:
30 years ago. Same attendance. Any reasonable person knows that it should be much more compared to the tremendous growth of college football
Click to expand...
 
cbpitt2 said:
Let's be honest here. Take into account that the attendance figures "announced" at Heinz Field have been way over-inflated for years. The game against UCONN years ago maybe had 15,000 people and was announced as 40,000. So I don't buy the modern numbers as legit whatsoever. No one should.
Click to expand...


I agree, but let's not pretend that the inflation of attendance numbers is some sort of new phenomena or something that started at Heinz Field.

Our former AD didn't start the practice, but he did take it to another level.
 
joeydavid said:
How many teams played D1 football 30 years ago? How has the population in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas changed? College football "growth" has fueled in part by massive expansion.

And yet through ups and downs along with playing in 3 different stadiums- Pitt's attendance hasn't really changed. This isn't a puzzle worth solving. Find the best, cost effective place to play because your revenue base isn't changing. Frankly, it would be a bad business decision to pay for a new stadium until they needed to do so. At this point Heinz is the best answer until it no longer exists.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Nordy, for your myopic view of the world. Since your and your cronies' mismanagement of Pitt FB for the last 40 years has ensured that the fan base would never grow, your projection that Pitt never had to and shouldn't invest in an on campus stadium was a self fulfilling prophecy. Get your head out of you butt and plan for success-like 99% of the universities in America do. You're still in the stone ages with your backward thinking. Nordy....
 
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Sez the guy who doesn't attend games.

Delpanther said:
Thanks, Nordy, for your myopic view of the world. Since your and your cronies' mismanagement of Pitt FB for the last 40 years has ensured that the fan base would never grow, your projection that Pitt never had to and shouldn't invest in an on campus stadium was a self fulfilling prophecy. Get your head out of you butt and plan for success-like 99% of the universities in America do. You're still in the stone ages with your backward thinking. Nordy....
Click to expand...
 
I do enjoy when people discuss SP's fake attendance numbers as evidence why playing at Heinz is a good thing. Those numbers aren't real making them irrelevant. We had 17,000 in the house for the Wednesday night UConn game. We announced 40,000. This went on routinely so stop posting them as "evidence"
 
Last edited:
bwh05 said:
I do enjoy when people discuss SP's fake attendance numbers as evidence why playing at Heinz is a good think. Those numbers aren't real making them irrelevant. We had 17,000 in the house for the Wednesday night UConn game. We announced 40,000. This went on routinely so stop posting them as "evidence"
Click to expand...
SP has a future in politics maybe as a pollster?
 
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