Ticket Demand for Pittsburgh Steelers

While the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to keep their hopes of a .500 record alive with a 30-20 victory over AFC North division-leading Cincinnati on 12/15, they still managed to suffer another defeat. In a season that’s been riddled with injuries on the offensive line (again) and in the defensive backfield (leaving a unit often at the head of the class looking decidedly average, or worse), Sunday brought about a bruise to the Steelers organization’s pride and stellar reputation. The announced attendance was only 45,873 and represented the lowest number since Heinz Field opened in 2001. The current capacity for football at the stadium is 65,500, so Sunday’s attendance represents only 70% of the normally sold-out home field advantage to which the Black & Gold are accustomed. The previous record-low attendance for a Steelers game at Heinz Field was recorded in Week 17 last year (51,831), a game against the Browns that drew an average resale price of $133 per ticket in the week before kickoff.

Click here for Pittsburgh Steelers Tickets, Bengals at Steelers Average Ticket Price

As bleak as the situation may look based on the Bengals game’s attendance and average ticket price, the last home game against the Browns in Week 17 may be even worse. The week 15 price ($49) is 58% less than the previous low; the attendance is over 11% down from the previous low. So, another Week 17 game against the Browns just a year after the same week & same opponent yielded a terrible turnout doesn’t look good for the Steelers; seats are currently starting at just $55 with two weeks left to fall. While we’re piling on, the average price for a ticket to the Bengals game was less than both preseason games for this year: the 8/10 game versus the Giants fetched $63, while the 8/24 game against the Chiefs brought in an average of $50. Steelers fans are clearly growing tired of back-to-back seasons where the team a .500 record is their team’s best case scenario, and they’re becoming less hopeful by the week. Can they work some magic behind the Steel Curtain to spark interest and energy before the season finale? It never seemed likely, but the Steelers may need a miracle to get a fair-sized crowd against their oldest rivals to close out 2013.

Pittsburgh Steelers Tickets

Bengals at Steelers Average Ticket Price

Over time, Sunday’s game against the Bengals had average ticket prices consistently dropping to their final point of $49, the lowest total we’ve seen for a Steelers home game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh since we started tracking the secondary market in 2009. The previous record-low average resale price we had seen in the week before a Steelers home game had been $117 per ticket for their 2011 Week 16 matchup against the Rams, more than twice the average price paid last week for a ticket to the Bengals game.

Tickets for Bengals at Steelers dropped in average price over time to an all-time low for our records of $49.

Steelers Home Game Results

Date Opponent Result City State/Country Venue
9/8 Titans L, 16-9 Pittsburgh PA Heinz Field
9/22 Bears L, 40-23 Pittsburgh PA Heinz Field
10/20 Ravens W, 19-16 Pittsburgh PA Heinz Field
11/10 Bills W, 23-10 Pittsburgh PA Heinz Field
11/17 Lions W, 37-27 Pittsburgh PA Heinz Field
12/8 Dolphins L, 34-28 Pittsburgh PA Heinz Field
12/15 Bengals W, 30-20 Pittsburgh PA Heinz Field
12/29 Browns TBD Pittsburgh PA Heinz Field

2013 Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field

Sadly, Steelers fans at Heinz Field have had to take a little too much pleasure from small home field traditions like the video montage set to “Renegade” by Styx this season because the team’s play has been sub-par overall.