The crowd in SD was at least 80% Steelers fans

[steelreserve]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was 90%. There were maybe one or two Chargers fans in our entire section, and the rest of the stadium didn't look much different. Parking lot was the same way. I am almost positive they were pumping in extra crowd noise whenever the Chargers had a big play, because there is no way that few people were making a full-stadium size cheer.

A few pictures I took, plus a video as people were filing out at the end of the game; look at the few lonely Chargers fans ...








https://vid.me/QyV4

[tube517]

Even Rivers said it was like a road game.

How great for us and how embarrassing for their team and city.

Still not surprised though.

Nice pics, SR.

[steelreserve]

Yeah, it's weird, there's a ton of angst in San Diego about the team possibly leaving for L.A. Just going around town, you see a ton of people with Chargers gear and decorated trucks and stuff supporting the team, but they're all super depressed. Even more than Eagles fans, which I didn't think was possible.

I don't even get why the team is thinking about leaving. They want a new stadium, but guess what, nothing's wrong with the old stadium. It doesn't feel older than any other stadium, it's pretty easy to get to, it's designed well enough to handle the crowd OK ... I mean, I walked in there and was like, really, what the fuck? THIS is what they're complaining about? I spent the last 20 years going to Candlestick Park and the Oakland Coliseum. THOSE people had a right to complain. Qualcomm Stadium, give me a break. Spend $75 million on a new A/V system and a few bells and whistles for the dick-in-hand contingent, and it's a perfectly good venue for the next 20 years.

Yeah, yeah, I know it's all about the luxury boxes, but as you can see from the picture, it would be SUPER simple to add a ton of them; they already have the perfect place for them right between the second and third deck. They sell out every game as it is. I really have no clue what the ownership is thinking. I don't really have any particular love for the Chargers, but if they are that insistent on moving, they ought to be forced to sell the team instead, because they are obviously dipshits who have no business running an NFL franchise.

[fansince'76]

I'm going to laugh when Steelers fans take over "Emoville Coliseum" when they play the Suckhawks.

[86WARD]

You could hear the eruption on TV...it sounded totally like a home game for the Steelers.

[Steelermania]

This is the second game we played on the road vs a team that may be headed to LA. New stadiums are big money makers. No revamped stadium can compare. As long as there are pretty whores out there ready to drop their panties, and bend over (LA), cities that try to draw the line will see their teams head for the door. The Colts leaving Baltimore was example one, and if that didn't convince you, the Browns leaving Cleveland should have opened the eyes of even the most naive.

[steelreserve]

This is the second game we played on the road vs a team that may be headed to LA. New stadiums are big money makers. No revamped stadium can compare. As long as there are pretty whores out there ready to drop their panties, and bend over (LA), cities that try to draw the line will see their teams head for the door. The Colts leaving Baltimore was example one, and if that didn't convince you, the Browns leaving Cleveland should have opened the eyes of even the most naive.

I guess ... I mean, the Chargers have no problem selling out their old stadium, and probably would continue to do so if they raised ticket prices. Tickets on the 50-yard line 10 rows up had a face value of $120, and were selling for $350-$400 apiece online. That tells me that if they are complaining about not being able to make money, they have simply fucked up on pricing.

The stadium itself means exactly dick to a team's profitability. Attendance is 100% by default, prices can be set at whatever you want whether it's a new stadium or an old one, and TV revenues are shared.

What's really going on is not that they have any difficulty making money, but that they're attempting to increase the resale value of the franchise. Owning an NFL team in the VC era isn't about taking your $25 million profit every year and being happy with it; that's peanuts compared to the half-billion you can get by flipping a team, or the full billion in net worth if you also have a new city and a new stadium. They will make exactly the same amount of money in L.A. as they did in San Diego, and exactly as much money with the new stadium as the old stadium, but the arbitrary valuation of the franchise goes up. It's a shitty way to run a franchise. At least the other teams vying for a move to L.A. have some reasonable connection to the place.

[Moose]

The thing that always get's to me is when the announcers always say, " the Steeler's have a great traveling fan base". Yea, there are fan's that travel to watch their team, as I do when I drive 5 hrs from Indiana to Pitt to watch a game, but the fact is there are Steeler fans in every state that could almost fill a stadium on their own. Get it straight ESPN !

[teegre]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was 90%. There were maybe one or two Chargers fans in our entire section, and the rest of the stadium didn't look much different. Parking lot was the same way. I am almost positive they were pumping in extra crowd noise whenever the Chargers had a big play, because there is no way that few people were making a full-stadium size cheer.

A few pictures I took, plus a video as people were filing out at the end of the game; look at the few lonely Chargers fans ...



https://vid.me/QyV4

You were at the game. I wish I had known... I would have said "Hello."

Maybe you saw me; I was as the one wearing black & gold.

[hawaiiansteeler]

I only counted 65%...

[steelreserve]

The thing that always get's to me is when the announcers always say, " the Steeler's have a great traveling fan base". Yea, there are fan's that travel to watch their team, as I do when I drive 5 hrs from Indiana to Pitt to watch a game, but the fact is there are Steeler fans in every state that could almost fill a stadium on their own. Get it straight ESPN !

Yeah, pretty much anyone with ties to the city knows that. About 9 out of 10 Steelers fans you talk to at away games all have the same story: "We lived there when I was younger, but then I/my parents moved away for a new job, and so we've been living here for the past 25 years." Half of Pittsburgh emptied out in the '80s and '90s, but all those people still root for the football team.

Maybe you saw me; I was as the one wearing black & gold.

lmao

[ALLD]

The Steelers have no bandwagon fan base either.

[Steelman]

Nice pics SR! If it weren't for the decals on the back of the endzone and the message on the video board, it would be hard to tell that's an away stadium. Crazy stuff!

[Moose]

[QUOTE=steelreserve;511115]Yeah, pretty much anyone with ties to the city knows that. About 9 out of 10 Steelers fans you talk to at away games all have the same story: "We lived there when I was younger, but then I/my parents moved away for a new job, and so we've been living here for the past 25 years." Half of Pittsburgh emptied out in the '80s and '90s, but all those people still root for the football team.

I never lived in the 'burgh, but I've loved the Black/Gold and their style of play, the family morals, etc., since I understood football. I'm 65, so you can guess how long I've been a fan ! And a 5 hr drive isn't that bad for good football. LOL

[TeeTee]

The thing that always get's to me is when the announcers always say, " the Steeler's have a great traveling fan base". Yea, there are fan's that travel to watch their team, as I do when I drive 5 hrs from Indiana to Pitt to watch a game, but the fact is there are Steeler fans in every state that could almost fill a stadium on their own. Get it straight ESPN !

I am sooooooooooooooo sick of hearing announcers make this erroneous assertion. Yes, SOME of the fans at away games travel from da Burgh. But the majority of Steeler fans at away games happen to live in those towns. We go to every Steeler game in J-ville, and I'd say 80% or so of the Steeler fans at the game live here. Fact is, when people move from Pgh, they remain Steeler fans and other fan bases that move tend to switch allegiance to their new home town team. They don't even understand the concept of staying a fan of your original team. They don't get it. Now that the Jags are no longer in our div. I slightly pull for them, as I don't want to lose NFL town status. But I am in no way anywhere close to giving Jags and Steelers an equal fandom status. Not even close. I own about 50-70 items (shirts, hats, cups, etc.) that bare a Steeler logo and ZERO of anything pimping Jags.

[GoSlash27]

The thing that always get's to me is when the announcers always say, " the Steeler's have a great traveling fan base". Yea, there are fan's that travel to watch their team, as I do when I drive 5 hrs from Indiana to Pitt to watch a game, but the fact is there are Steeler fans in every state that could almost fill a stadium on their own. Get it straight ESPN !

^ I roll my eyes every time I hear this. Like Pittsburgh just happens to be home to 40,000 idle- rich deadheads who have the money and free time to travel the world attending Steeler games...

That horde of Steeler fans didn't travel to San Diego from Pittsburgh, that horde of Steeler fans *lives* in San Diego.

[86WARD]

Id bet a little bit traveled...that would be a nice road trip.

[teegre]

Rivers has to use hand signals.

He said it was a road game.

Even if it wasn't actually 80%, it sure SOUNDED like it.

[Texasteel]

This has been a thorn in the side for Jerry Jones. He hated to see his stadium half full of black and gold. I believe he even asked his season ticket owners not to sell their tickets to Steelers fans. We travel well OK. I would travel 40 miles from Mesquite to Arlington.

[tube517]

This has been a thorn in the side for Jerry Jones. He hated to see his stadium half full of black and gold. I believe he even asked his season ticket owners not to sell their tickets to Steelers fans. We travel well OK. I would travel 40 miles from Mesquite to Arlington.

Same thing happened in the 05 Colts playoff. Dungy, being the former Steeler, knew Steeler fans were going to invade his stadium. So, he asked the fans not to sell tickets to Steeler fans.

[teegre]

This has been a thorn in the side for Jerry Jones. He hated to see his stadium half full of black and gold. I believe he even asked his season ticket owners not to sell their tickets to Steelers fans. We travel well OK. I would travel 40 miles from Mesquite to Arlington.

About a decade ago, the Chargers got smart and would not let you buy single game tickets for Steelers games.

Bengals game: sure
Ravens game: come on in
Steelers game: you have to buy the entire season

I get why. Thankfully, there are plenty of Chargers "fans" willing to sell their tickets.

[The Bark]

It was the same thing in both 2005 and 2006 when I went to the games there, at least 50% were Steeler fans. I distinctively remember a Chargers fan lamenting how embarrassing it was. Also went to the game in Dallas in 2005, sitting right behind Jerome Bettis's parents and it was still 30-40 Steeler fans there, too.

[tube517]

A good barometer of the percentage of Steeler fans at an away game is when Heath catches a pass.