Steelers could give up a home game
By Kim Myers
Steelers Nation doesn’t just reach to the limits of Western Pennsylvania, it’s a nation that reaches all the way around the globe.
So it should make sense that when the NFL talks about international expansion that the Steelers are one of the teams in the mix. Honestly, no one is packing stadiums across the world year in and year out to watch the Jaguars play the whoevers just for the novelty of an American football game.
They will, however, pack stadiums and buy merch for a Steelers game in anywhere like Ireland, London, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Spain, places they’ve all played preseason games before as reminded by Mark Kaboly of the Trib.
There’s one twist this time that Steelers fans need to understand. With the inevitable expansion plans of the NFL there will be four games played outside the United States this upcoming season, the most that has ever been played.
If the Steelers are going to continue to be a part of the NFL’s international expansion, and Art Rooney II explains that the Steelers have every intention on being part of it, they may have to lose a home game in order to play one overseas.
How does that sit with Steelers fans? Particularly the local yinzers. The one thing that is always said about Steelers fans whenever they are present at away games is how well they travel. The reality is that Steeler Nation is everywhere and it’s not like the city and boroughs just empty out each time the Steelers go on the road.
Steeler Nation already lives in places like San Diego, Arizona, Miami, Jacksonville, heck even London, Mexico and Ireland. So we know there will be no problem with Steelers fans filling stadiums wherever the NFL decides to hold them but how do we feel about losing one of the home games to make that happen?
In my opinion, to make this work with the yinzers, it would have to be a game in the month of September. Any other time of the year you take away a Steelers home game and you’ll have a Black & Gold riot on your hands and man that ain’t pretty. There will be mullets and French fries everywhere.
Next: Scorn or Sympathy for Martavis Bryant?
What do you think about the possibility of the Steelers losing a home game to play one internationally?