Steelers President Art Rooney II Says The Team Is Completely Committed To Future At Acrisure Stadium

The Pittsburgh Steelers have called the building now known as Acrisure Stadium home since 2001 and are not in the market to find a new home any time soon. Team President Art Rooney II met with a handful of reporters on Monday for his postseason press conference and iterated that he'd like to see the Steelers stay at the Northside facility for the foreseeable future. 

The organization has a long history of playing games on the shores of the Ohio River. The predecessor to Acrisure Stadium/Heinz Field, Three Rivers Stadium was the team's home for 29 years before its demolition made way for the new building. Rooney told reporters that the 23-year-old building will need some work, but the team is in the process of evaluating and figuring out those needs. 

"We are going through a stadium assessment at this point and really looking at what it's gonna take to be in the stadium for the next 10-20 years, whatever it's gonna be," he said via a transcript of the interview posted by DK Pittsburgh Sports. "It's a process. We’ve hired some consultants to help us look at it. We like the stadium. We think it's a great facility and, with the right kinds of improvements, can continue to be our home for a long time."

One of those potential consultants that Rooney is referencing is likely David Morehouse, who was promoted as the team's Executive Vice President for Strategy in May of 2023. The former Pittsburgh Penguins executive played an instrumental part in getting a new arena built for the team. He also has plenty of business and political connections that could help move a renovation project for Acrisure Stadium forward. 

Rooney was asked about the possibility of a dome coming in a potential rework of the stadium, and he quickly shot down the idea with a laugh. 

"Probably not gonna be a dome anytime soon," he said. "No, I don't see that happening here."

The Steelers pride themselves on being one of the NFL's cold-weather teams and play in a division where all their opponents have open fields, too. It would be almost entirely out of character for the team to play in a covered building. While it may prevent them from hosting a Super Bowl, it's the way Pittsburgh is wired. 

Steelers Listening To All Kinds Of Voices When It Comes To Facility Upgrades 

Rooney joked with reporters that he hasn't met any players who are architects yet, but that doesn't mean their voices aren't valued in what goes into the upgrades made at Acrisure or any potential changes to the team's practice facility UPMC Rooney Sports Complex that is shared with the University of Pittsburgh. 

The NFLPA did its first-ever survey of players in 2023 to evaluate teams in several areas, including facility-related things. Pittsburgh ranked poorly in the treatment of facilities due to a lack of childcare facilities and a team family room. The team also got a poor grade for their looker room, which players said was not big enough and needed a renovation.

"We’re not opposed to player feedback but we do look at -- what are the benchmarks around the country? What do players need to be successful these days?," Rooney said. "To be honest with you, we’re not as deep into the assessment of this facility as we are into the stadium. But that will come. We still have, I think, it’s six or seven years left on our lease here. We’ll work with UPMC and try to start to see where we go here. Still a ways to go, I think, to get into this facility in a big way."

While nothing is concrete, it sounds like work to both the Steelers facilities could be coming soon. As Rooney said, it's a process, so more information about potential building upgrades should be arriving.

What do you want to see in upgrades at Acrisure Stadium? What do you think is needed to improve fans' experience on game days? Comment below!      

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