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Acrisure Stadium, formerly (and still colloquially) known as Heinz Field, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the North Shore neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. It primarily serves as the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Pittsburgh Panthers of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The stadium opened in 2001 as Heinz Field, following the controlled implosion of the teams' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium. In 2021, the owners of the Heinz name, now owned by Kraft Heinz declined to renew the stadium's naming rights. The City of Pittsburgh green-lit Acrisure's bid to purchase the rights in 2022.
Funded in conjunction with PNC Park and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the $281 million (equivalent to $ million in ) stadium stands along the Ohio River, on the North Side of Pittsburgh in the North Shore neighborhood. The stadium was designed with the city's history of steel production in mind, which led to the inclusion of 12,000 tons of steel into construction. Ground for the stadium was broken in June 1999, and the first football game was hosted in September 2001. The stadium's natural-grass surface has been criticized throughout its history, but Steelers owners have kept the grass after lobbying from players and coaches. The 68,400-seat stadium has sold out for most Steelers home games, a streak that dates to 1972. A collection of Steelers and Panthers memorabilia is in the Great Hall.
The stadium has hosted two outdoor hockey games: the 2011 NHL Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, and the 2017 NHL Stadium Series game between the Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. The venue has also hosted numerous concerts; on June 17, 2023, Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour performance was attended by 73,117 people, the highest-ticketed event in Pittsburgh history.
Originally, a sales tax increase was proposed to fund three projects: Heinz Field, PNC Park, and an expansion of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. After the rejection of this proposal in a 1997 referendum known as the "Regional Renaissance Initiative", the city developed the alternate funding proposal Plan B. Similarly controversial, the proposal was labeled Scam B by opponents. The Steelers' pledge toward the new stadium was criticized for being too little, even after it was raised from $50 million to $76.5 million. Other local government members criticized the $281 million of public money allocated for Plan B. One member of the Allegheny Regional Asset District board called the use of tax dollars "corporate welfare". The plan, totaling $809 million, was approved by the Allegheny Regional Asset District board on July 9, 1998, with $233 million allotted for Heinz Field. Shortly after Plan B was approved, the Steelers made a deal with Pittsburgh city officials to stay in the city until at least 2031. The total cost of Heinz Field was $281 million.
Ground was broken for Heinz Field on June 18, 1999, at a ceremony co-hosted by the Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh. The stadium was constructed by Hunt Construction Group and Mascaro Construction Company, LP. The two companies directed 1,400 workers over two years, in which there were no construction accidents or lawsuits. The stadium is inspected yearly, along with PNC Park, by Chronicle Consulting, LLC, for structural defects and maintenance.
Unusual for a stadium built in the 21st century (but much more common among older stadiums), the stadium originally had Manger-style in the men's
That same year, two light-emitting diode (LED) video displays from Daktronics were installed at the field. The larger, HD video display measures approximately high by nearly wide.
In 2007, writer Bill Evans named Heinz Field the second best stadium in the NFL, behind Lambeau Field, in an article for ESPN.com. Although both stadiums received a score of 54 out of 70, Sports Illustrated named Heinz Field the second best stadium in the NFL, also behind Lambeau Field.
In January 2021, just as the Heinz naming rights deal was set to expire, it was announced that Kraft Heinz decided to renew the naming rights for just one more year, ensuring the name would remain through at least the end of 2021. As the naming rights were allowed to expire in 2022, the future name of the stadium was uncertain. However, Steelers president Art Rooney II has said he was "optimistic" about agreeing to another extension with Kraft-Heinz.
However, on July 10, 2022, it was reported that Heinz would not sign a new deal with the Steelers, ending their 21-year business arrangement. After unsuccessfully trying to find another local company to purchase the naming rights, the naming rights were bought by Michigan-based insurance company Acrisure in a deal initially reported on July 11, 2022; Steelers minority owner Thomas Tull also has an ownership stake in Acrisure. The decision to rename the stadium has received overwhelmingly fierce opposition by Steelers fans.
However, Kraft-Heinz did not remain outside of Steelers-named sponsorship for much longer after giving up naming rights to the stadium itself; the company renegotiated with the Steelers to instead be the naming sponsor for Gate C, the closest gate to the Allegheny Light Rail station. Kraft Heinz later repurposed the Heinz Field name for the new football stadium for Aliquippa Junior/Senior High School in suburban Aliquippa, Pennsylvania as part of a $1.3 million endowment to the Aliquippa School District for new academic and athletic centers.
The quickest score in NFL history occurred on September 8, 2013, in the Steelers season opener against the Tennessee Titans, when the Steelers scored a safety on the opening kickoff three seconds into the game. Darius Reynaud of the Titans fielded the kickoff and took a short step backwards (into the south end zone) for what was ruled to be a safety, not a touchback, because the ball was not in the end zone when it was fielded. The Steelers, however, lost the game 16–9, which was also their first home opener loss since the stadium opened.
On October 7, 2018, the Steelers won their 100th regular season game at Heinz Field with a record of 100–38–1 at that point.
College football
Since the Panthers moved to the stadium, attendance for games has been varied, ranging from an average high of 59,197 people per game for the 2003 season to a low of 33,315 in 2007. Speculation and analysis mostly concluded that that attendance was primarily impacted by the success of the team and times that the games are played, not the location of the stadium. More recently, Pitt has averaged 54,710 in home attendance during the 2022 season in which the team posted a 9-4 record and 48,122 during the 2023 season in which the team recorded a 3-9 season.
On September 1, 2022, the Backyard Brawl between the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University met after an 11-year break of the rivalry, due to conference realignment. With an attendance of 70,622 fans, a new record was set for the largest sporting event in the history of Pittsburgh. The previous record was held by Penn State versus Pitt in 2016 with 69,983 in attendance.
| Little Big Town was a special guest. | ||||||
| June 16, 2023 | Taylor Swift | Girl in Red Gracie Abrams | The Eras Tour | TBA | TBA | First act in history to sell out two shows on a single tour. Highest-ticketed event in Pittsburgh history. (June 17) |
| June 17, 2023 | Girl in Red Owenn | |||||
| June 1, 2024 | Kenny Chesney Zac Brown Band | Megan Moroney Uncle Kracker | Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour | |||
| May 8, 2025 | AC/DC | The Pretty Reckless | Power Up Tour | |||
| May 31, 2025 | George Strait Chris Stapleton | Parker McCollum | ||||
Heinz Field hosted a women's international exhibition match between the United States and Costa Rica on August 16, 2015. It ended in an 8–0 victory for the United States, in their first match since winning the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and set a new attendance record for a standalone women's friendly in the U.S. with 44,028 spectators.
| 6,386 |
| 34,347 |
| 44,028 |
| 16,171 |
| 42,679 |
| 68,111 |
| 67,318 |
Heinz Field was the home field for the Gotham Rogues in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises. An estimated 15,000 unpaid extras filled the stadium during shooting on August 6, 2011. During episode 4 of season 12 of The Bachelorette, eleven contestants competed in a five-on-five football game. In addition, they met with football players from the Steelers including Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, and Brett Keisel.
In 2021, Pittsburgh CLO presented a production of The Wizard of Oz from July 8 to 10 on the field.Cristi, A.A. "Pittsburgh CLO Announces Cast for THE WIZARD OF OZ", Broadway World, June 26, 2021 In 2024, President Donald J. Trump visited the stadium for a Steelers game during his presidential campaign.
In 2025, the stadium hosted Supercross for the first time ever, as well as Monster Jam.
On Friday, November 23, 2007, Heinz Field hosted four WPIAL championship football games which were followed the day after with a game between Pitt and South Florida. After discussion with the NFL, the Steelers owners decided to re-surface the field for their nationally televised game against the Miami Dolphins. A layer of sod was laid on the GrassMaster surface. After the new sod was laid, 1½ inches of rain fell which did not allow the tarp to be removed from the field until 70 minutes before the game began. The field conditions were so bad that a punt by Dolphins punter Brandon Fields stuck to the turf without bouncing. The Steelers won the game 3–0, with a field goal by Jeff Reed with 17 seconds remaining; it was the NFL's first 3–0 game since 1993 and the longest two teams went without scoring since the New York Giants and Detroit Lions played to a scoreless tie on November 11, 1943. Scott Brown, of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, called the field a "veritable mud pit". Gene Upshaw, head of the National Football League Players' Association, said a 2006 survey of NFL players ranked Heinz Field as the second-worst field in the league. Steelers receiver Hines Ward called the playing conditions "horrendous" after the game. However, the following day Ward and other Pittsburgh players lobbied to keep the natural surface, saying, "I think everybody wants to keep the grass." Since that season, the Steelers have played their game on the weekend after Thanksgiving on the road at the team's request.
Debate continued over the field later in the season when Jacksonville running back Fred Taylor called the field "a lawsuit pending". Pittsburgh's owners said the decision was up to the players, who once again defended the natural surface. In February 2008, the Steelers announced that they would keep the Desso GrassMaster surface. During the 2008 season, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger received a concussion from a hit at Heinz Field. He later said, "I'm glad we weren't on FieldTurf. That grass — you know, the soft Heinz Field—might've helped a little bit." After the 2008 season, a poll of 1,565 NFL players rated the surface at Heinz Field as the worst of the 18 natural surfaces in the League.
The Grassmaster surface was removed in January 2009 and replaced with the old sod placed on top of the Grassmaster surface for the AFC Championship later that month.
In 2003, the Steelers played the Philadelphia Eagles in a preseason game with plain diagonal white lines in the South end zone, which were common in NFL end zones until the 1960s. Although the Steelers lost the game 21–16, team president Dan Rooney liked the look of the South end zone being "plain", and decided to bring it back the next year. The 2003 season was the last year to date which contained "PITTSBURGH" and "Steelers" in black words with athletic gold outlines in both end zones.
Beginning in 2004, the wordmark designs were flipped in paint color, "PITTSBURGH" in the North and "Steelers" in the South were now athletic gold with the former having either dark blue outlines for Pitt or black for the Steelers. The diagonal white lines in the South end zone during the college portion of the season began in this year too, with "Steelers" being added after Pitt has played their final home game of the year. In the aforementioned Dolphins-Steelers Monday Night Football match of 2007, the surface conditions had become so deteriorated from the rain and gameplay itself that the field grid of hash marks, yard lines, mid-field logo, and wordmarks in both end zones were barely visible throughout the game. Sideline hash marks (painted orange) and yard lines were re-painted at halftime.
From 2001 through 2010, there was typically no midfield logo when both Pitt and the Steelers were in season; the Steelers had their logo painted on the sidelines when Pitt's football season was ongoing and transferred it to midfield after Pitt's football season ended (except for the first two seasons when it was only added for the postseason). As of the 2011 season, Pitt and the Steelers in cooperation have their respective logos at midfield for their own homes games, being interchanged frequently.
Being a member of the American Football Conference (AFC), the grounds crew of Acrisure Stadium has painted the conference logo in both end zones for every Pittsburgh Steelers postseason home game to date. Recently, after the end of the Pittsburgh Panthers season, fans and players, including T. J. Watt and J. J. Watt, spoke out to change the endzones to the gold ones, similar to the one at Three Rivers Stadium.
Six large Lombardi Trophy-shaped display columns were erected and contain artifacts from each championship the Steelers have won including replica trophies. Two display columns are dedicated to the University of Pittsburgh and contain memorabilia from the Panthers' teams. The floor is painted to resemble the post-baseball season football field at Three Rivers Stadium, with the word "Steelers" painted in black over a gold background. University of Pittsburgh players are featured on two large murals within the Hall. Eight additional tile murals created by local high schools represent western Pennsylvania football history. In 2007, the Great Hall was named the best concourse at an NFL stadium by writer Bill Evans, in an article for ESPN.com.
On April 12, 2012, the Steelers confirmed they would seek approval from the NFL to expand seating by 3,000. On May 19, 2014, after more than two years, the Steelers and the SEA came to an agreement to add about 3,000 seats to the venue. After contractors surveyed the complex the final number of 2,390 added seats with five additional suites including more parking, restrooms and concessions was determined in December 2014 to increase capacity to a total of 68,400. The seating was put in place by the summer of 2015.
On September 10, 2016, the then-largest crowd of 69,983 to ever see a sporting event in Pittsburgh watched the Pitt Panthers defeat the Penn State Nittany Lions, 42–39 as they renewed their rivalry in football. On September 1, 2022, a crowd of 70,622 fans broke the record attendance for a sporting event in Pittsburgh again, as No. 17 Pitt defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers 38–31 in the first Backyard Brawl since 2011.
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