The Pittsburgh Steelers have agreed to change the name of Heinz Field to Acrisure Stadium, which was announced earlier this week. Naming rights to stadiums expire very often in the NFL and there have been 13 changes to teams' homes around the league since 2010 (not including brand new stadiums being opened). I am a pretty superstitious person, so went digging to see what kind of seasons the teams had the year immediately after switching up the title of the stadium.
Seven of the 13 teams missed the playoffs and had an abysmal combined record of 38-76. Talk about messing up the juju! Those seven teams weren't just bad, but incredibly unlucky. Only one had a winning record, but lost their Hall of Fame coach when the season ended.
1.) 2013 Cleveland Browns (4-12) - Cleveland Browns Stadium To FirstEnergy Stadium
The Browns have been historically bad in the 21st century and the 2013 season was no different. Staring quarterback Brandon Weeden was injured in the second week of the season and former first round pick Jason Campbell split time with him as the signal-caller. It was the organization's sixth consecutive season with 11 or more losses. The bright spot of the year was two division wins. Of course, none came against the Steelers because Ben Roethlisberger owned the Browns the majority of his career.
Ken Blaze / USA TODAY Sports
2.) 2015 Tennessee Titans (3-13) - LP Field To Nissan Stadium
The Titans are one of two teams with just three wins in a new stadium name's inaugural season since 2010. Their first win at home didn't come until December and it was their only home victory that year. There was a cluster at quarterback with Zach Mettenberger and Marcus Mariota both starting at least four games and they combined to throw for just 23 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Steelers fans may see a little of all three quarterbacks in 2022 if Mason Rudolph isn't traded and better hope for a different result.
3.) 2018 Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11) - EverBank Field To TIAA Bank Field
The trend continues as a signal-caller was not a definitive with this Jaguars team. Blake Bortles and Cody Kessler both started at least four games, threw a combined 15 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, and Doug Marrone's team finished last in their division. One of the losses was a 20-16 defeat that came at the hands of the Steelers. The organization hasn't made it to the playoffs since the stadium was renamed and have a total of just 15 wins since then.
A regular season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018
4.) 2018 Arizona Cardinals (3-13) - University Of Phoenix Stadium To State Farm Stadium
More quarterback trouble again! It all started with the Cardinals drafting Josh Rosen in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft (Steelers selected Kenny Pickett back in April of this year). Rosen and his backup, Sam Bradford, only managed 13 touchdowns passes and had 18 interceptions thrown. Yikes. The defense only had seven interceptions which would have been the worst by four in 2021. This is arguably the ugliest season after a stadium naming rights change since 2010.
5.) 2019 Denver Broncos (7-9) - Mile High Stadium To Empower Field At Mile High
Mile High Stadium was one of the coolest stadium names in all of sports in my opinion. It's a shame it was changed and those superstitious Broncos fans probably agree as the team has not had a winning season the last three years since the alteration.
Three different quarterbacks had at least three starts in a season that saw only 16 receiving touchdowns for the franchise. The defense was the reason they almost finished at .500 in 2019, but the Mile High Stadium ghosts seem to disagree with the name mix up and the organization has failed to meet expectations since.
6.) 2021 Seattle Seahawks (7-10) - CenturyLink Field To Lumen Stadium
The announcement of this change came in November of 2020, but for the purposes of what we are analyzing here, let's jump to the next season. In 2021, the team was last in the NFC West and it turned into the last year that Russell Wilson would play for Seattle. While he played 14 games, he dealt with a bad thumb injury and was not completely himself. Wilson must have not liked the name Lumen Stadium as he ended up being traded this past off-season.
7.) 2021 New Orleans Saints (9-8) - Mercedes-Benz Superdome To Caesar's Superdome
Okay, so finally we have a team here that had a winning record. Did the Saints make the playoffs? Nope. But, guess what? Issues with the offensive leader started early as Jameis Winston tore his ACL and they continued throughout the season with Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian both contributing. The only reason they finished above .500 was the coaching of Sean Payton. So, the only team on this list to have a winning record the next season after a stadium name change loses their Hall of Fame head coach as he steps down? Bad karma everywhere.
The main odd comparison is the consistent trend here of quarterback play while the Steelers head into the 2022 season with a big fat question mark at the position. And, sure, some teams had successful years after stadium naming rights changed, but the majority were bad, had quarterback issues and overall had a curse hovering over their home fields the first season with the new name. Heck, some still have that curse hanging over them now. We all can hope the Steelers spread good karma and plenty of wins at Acrisure Stadium in its first year.
Are you extremely superstitious? Do you think the Steelers could follow the trend here with questionable quarterback play and a bad first season at Acrisure Stadium? Let us know in the comments below!
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