Two weeks ago, I attended Pitt men’s soccer’s win against Butler 4-1 on Monday, Sept. 8. The team was ranked No. 10 in the country and came into the game on a two-game losing streak. It was a Monday at the beginning of a busy week, and it certainly showed in the stands.
While a couple hundred seats were filled in the meager bleachers offered by Ambrose Urbanic Field, nearly all the seats were occupied by the families of the players and local youth soccer players.
The school in recent years has boasted exemplary performance across non-football sports, with volleyball and both men’s and women’s soccer as standout programs. Last year was the first time in school history that Pitt had two programs simultaneously ranked No.1 in the country — volleyball and men’s soccer. While volleyball generates ticket sales, the remaining sports at the school often receive little support for their high-performing programs.
One possible solution that has worked resoundingly well at other schools with similarly strong non-football programs is a point system. The way that the point system operates is that students receive points for attending different sporting events, which then become a tally in their accounts. Then, when it comes to football, the tickets are released in order of those who accrue the most points, giving them access to the best sections, rows and seats at football.
At the University of Tennessee, this system has paid off quite well. Journalists covering sporting events at the school have noted large swaths of students waiting outside the doors of their non-football sports in order to earn their points.
Of course, a point system at Pitt would involve serious implementation issues. Pitt football would need to entirely revamp its ticketing system. But if Pitt would like to boost its attendance in sports that seriously deserve more fans, it should consider making these changes in order to provide intimidating environments for its top teams.
Pitt even had a similar points system nearly a decade ago. But the non-football sports at Pitt were definitely worse when it came to on-field performance, which would drive away even the most dedicated of fans. Now is the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the top-tier performances that Pitt has delivered in recent years by increasing its overall attendance numbers.
There is also a potential issue of people just going for football tickets. While that will happen for some, the point system would offer an opportunity for students who were not previously fans of a given sport to go and see how much they enjoy it, potentially converting them into new fans.
There is also the point that Pitt fans rarely fill Acrisure Stadium as is. But the student allotment for tickets for football has only increased, and the attendance issues for the team are largely because of a wildly apathetic alumni base.
In order to give the top athletic programs at the school the attention they deserve while simultaneously boosting interest in football, the Pitt athletic department should seriously consider implementing a points system for non-football sports.
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