Heinz Field "hasn’t been filled for a Steelers game in more than two years," and since its seating capacity expanded to 68,400 in '15, fans have only filled it once, according to Gene Collier of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Steelers President Art Rooney II said, "You want your building full or as full as you can get it, but I really wasn't disappointed this year (as the club averaged less than 63,000); when you take into account that we started out 0-3, we wound up losing our starting quarterback (in Week 2), and had two Monday night games and a December game flexed to a Sunday night, with all that, I really wasn't all that disappointed." Collier noted Rooney has "publicly lamented the frequency of home night games before," which are "consistently among the worst attended." Two of the Steelers' three worst-attended games this year and the three worst-attended games last year were all night games. Rooney: "We're not the only ones experiencing that. We're similar to other markets, particularly in the northern climates, where fans are more sensitive to night games." He added, "Access to tickets is different. People can wake up Sunday morning and decide whether they want to buy a ticket or sell a ticket. ... Now there are a lot more ways for people to find the game. People's appetite for coming to live sporting events is changing, and sports in general are in the same situation" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 1/12).
