Pitt's Acrisure Stadium Thrashed in ACC Venue Rankings

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers have played in Acrisure Stadium since its opening in 2001. They have, of course, shared it with the Pittsburgh Steelers during that time as well, and many see it as the home of the Steelers, rather than the Panthers.

There has been some division recently among the Pittsburgh fanbase regarding the shared stadium, with some blaming Pitt for the recent poor field surface conditions on the Steelers' game days. It started about a month ago when Steelers team captain Miles Killebrew suffered a serious knee injury against the Cleveland Browns, and kicker Chris Boswell slipped, causing him to miss a field goal in the same game.

"My thing is, and I'm saying this for multiple reasons. I’m saying this for Pitt’s sake as well. I firmly believe that Pitt should put like a 35,000-person stadium up [in] Oakland," future Hall of Fame quarterback and Pittsburgh Steelers legend Ben Rothlesberger said on his podcast.

"Pack that thing, because when you’ve got 65,000 or 70,000 in Acrisure and it’s only half full, what’s that look like? Put a 25,000-person stadium and then have it just bumping, crazy, loud. Fans everywhere. The students won’t have to drive anywhere, they can walk to campus, to the stadium, walk to the game, walk back to their dorms. And then you keep them off the field for the Steelers."

Pittsburgh fans have been critical of the stadium this season, and they don't seem to be the only ones.

Acrisure Stadium is 'Overrated'

Four writers for The Athletic collaborated on a superlatives list for the ACC stadiums, and Matt Baker was the only one to name Acrisure Stadium as overrated.

"Pitt. I’ve heard plenty of talk over the years about Miami playing in an NFL stadium, but the Panthers somehow escape criticism by playing at the Steelers’ Acrisure Stadium," Baker wrote. "Also, that’s a dumb name."

In Acrisure Stadium's defense, it is much closer to Pitt's campus than the University of Miami is to Hard Rock Stadium. There are roughly 20 miles between the University of Miami and Hard Rock Stadium, which equates to around a 30-minute drive. But there are only about three miles between the University of Pittsburgh and Acrisure Stadium, equating to roughly a 10-minute drive.

Also, Pitt doesn't have control over the naming rights of the stadium.