I’m not going to make any apologies for the way I feel about the Pittsburgh Steelers playing a “home” game in Dublin, Ireland. Call me a ‘boomer’ or an ‘old man yelling at a cloud…’ I really don’t care. The game being held at 9:30am Eastern Time this Sunday is supposed to be kicking off at 1pm inside the friendly confines of Acrisure Stadium. It isn’t and it’s all because of money.
When the NFL moved to a 17-game schedule, this type of thing was exactly what they had in mind. Initially, the conferences would rotate between who had the extra home game each season and who didn’t. Somewhere in the back of our minds however we knew there was something else and playing meaningful, regular season games in foreign lands IS that something else. Why does this grind my gears so much? Allow me to explain.
Reason #1
If you’ve ever spent a Gameday weekend in Pittsburgh then you know its a festive and fun atmosphere. It’s also a very important time for businesses. Head down to the Strip District. Trying to get through ‘Yinzers on the Burgh’ on a Saturday afternoon is like Jaylen Warren trying to gain a yard right now. Travel down the street a bit and you’ll see Pamela’s – a fan favorite for breakfast with a line stretching down the street for hours. There are also little shops like bakeries and stores featuring artwork. Take away that home game and you take away all of those opportunities for business.
But it goes even deeper than that. Businesses need workers. ‘Yinzers’ needs people to man the registers and monitor all of the clothing outside its storefront. Pamela’s needs servers, cooks and people running their registers. I’m sure those folks enjoy a nice, slow Sunday but I’m guessing they also like the tips and big crowds that spend money too. With the Steelers playing in Ireland all of that goes away.
Reason #2
Despite the fact that the Steelers’ once proud home-field advantage really doesn’t exist anymore, having games at home in Acrisure Stadium matters. Take the hundreds – if not thousands – of people who work on gameday to provide fans everything from beer and popcorn to jerseys and Terrible Towels. No home game means those folks don’t work and they lose out on the same opportunities the people on Strip lose or the people in hotels, bars and restaurants do as well.
And God forbid I bring up the players. Do any of us really think this is a big deal for the players, coaches and rest of the gameday staff? It’s a royal pain in the ass is what it is. These same people would much prefer to wake in their own beds and drive into the city for a home game. Instead, they pack up for a whirlwind trip to the Emerald Isle for a home game that isn’t even a home game! There will no doubt be many more Steelers’ fans than there will be Vikings’ fans but I’m not sure that it matters.
Ultimately
While I can say that I’m glad that many fans of the Black and Gold in Europe will get an opportunity to see them play, it doesn’t take away the fact fans, workers and business owners here are forced to adjust. I can only imagine the reaction in the U.K. when Liverpool hosts Manchester City in a regular season fixture at Fenway Park. Seems a crazy thought doesn’t it? Well, I once thought my team playing a meaningful game in another country was just as crazy.
Yet here we are.
