OT: Pittsburgh sports hierarchy

[Ziggyjoe21]

With all 3 local pro sports teams active at the moment, I am curious what people think is the hierarchy of popularity of all 3 teams? Obviously Steelers will always be top dog, but did the Pirates catch the Pens with all their recent success?

People here are from all over the region, is there buzz about the Pirates? What about the Pens starting a new season? Does it differ by age group or other demographic?

Personally, as a 28 year old it seems like baseball has completely missed my generation. I know very few people who care about baseball, even less who follow the Pirates since I have a few friends from out of town. My FB feed seems to have a lot more posts/activity regarding the Pens than Pirates. However, I know that older people (40? and older) still have a strong following for the Buccos. TV numbers are pretty similar for both the Pens and Pirates.

What do you foresee for the future for both teams? IMO once Sid and Geno leave the team and the Pens stop being a SC contender every year the fans, TV viewership, and ticket sales will strongly drop. The past 10 years created A LOT of Pens fans, but I don't think they are "hockey" fans. I don't know about the Pirates but they were in a similar situation during their 20 year rut.

Thoughts?

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[Whambino]

Id say the Pirates are a little higher. A lot of Pens fans here aren't really hockey fans. A lot of the Bucco fans, however, are baseball fans. The younger generation isn't so preoccupied with baseball, but it's at least the same amount as hockey IMO.

 

[Winger for Hire]

Riverhounds are ready to take off...

 

[Night Shift]

As much as I pull for the Bucco's and want them to succeed, I cannot sit and watch a full baseball game. If the Bucco's were in the WS, that's about as close as I'm going to get to watch a full baseball game. And as much as I respect that sport and it's history, it's just not my thing.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Pirates are above the Pens now easily, the Pirates now are like the Pens of 2008.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

Pirates are above the Pens now easily, the Pirates now are like the Pens of 2008.

I can see this being the case during the summer, but I think that the addition of Kessel brought excitement back to the Pens season.

 

[AltDess]

...TV numbers are pretty similar for both the Pens and Pirates...

Interesting, do you have a source for these numbers? Will really be interesting to see Pirates ROOT Sports ratings, if they are ever made public. The Penguins local ratings we already know are some of the highest in hockey, typically earning a 10-12 rating for regular season games and around 20 for playoff games. A Steelers preseason game going head-to-head crushed a highly anticipated Pirates ESPN national TV game, and the Thursday night opener against the Patriots got over a 30 in the local market.

 

[SuburbanRhythm]

Pirates are above the Pens now easily, the Pirates now are like the Pens of 2008.

Came in here to say this.

If the Pirates have a few more playoff teams, but fail to advance to a WS, in the next couple seasons, they'll be exactly to where the Penguins are now, with a somewhat spoiled fan base.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

Interesting, do you have a source for these numbers? Will really be interesting to see Pirates ROOT Sports ratings, if they are ever made public. The Penguins local ratings we already know are some of the highest in hockey, typically earning a 10-12 rating for regular season games and around 20 for playoff games. A Steelers preseason game going head-to-head crushed a highly anticipated Pirates ESPN national TV game, and the Thursday night opener against the Patriots got over a 30 in the local market.

I think we all know that neither the Pirates or Pens will never touch the Steelers in terms of popularity or TV ratings, or anything really. MAYBE a game 7 playoff game will surpass a Steelers reg season game.... maybe.

I saw Root Sports TV numbers from 2014 iirc and they were almost identical. I'll have to find it again.

EDIT: found it...
Pens:
13/14 season 7.55 rating
14/15 season 6.55 rating

Pirates:
2014 season 7.49 rating
2015 season-couldn't find TV ratings

source:
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2015/04/20/Media/NHL-RSNs.aspx
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/29/Media/MLB-RSNs.aspx

So the atrocity that was the 14/15 Pens' season swayed away 13% of TV viewers. It'll be interesting to see if Kessel and (hopefully) a good Pens team can bring back fans.

 

[Penguins23]

I honestly wouldn't even be able to tell you my order let alone the order of the city.

I'd probably say Penguins-Pirates-Steelers but in terms of wanting to see another championship I'd say Pirates-Penguins-Steelers.

 

[ColePens]

Ceteris Paribus..... and assuming that all three teams are contenders for their respected title:

1) Steelers (just way ahead)

2) Pirates
3) Penguins (only inches behind Pirates)


That's basically just the understanding of sports. NFL is greater than MLB which is far greater than NHL. So in this town, it goes to show that the Pens mean a lot as it is right up there w/ their beloved Pirates. In a tier system, I would say Steelers are Tier 1, and Pirates/Pens are Tier 2.

 

[ColePens]

Pirates are above the Pens now easily, the Pirates now are like the Pens of 2008.

I was thinking of this comparison, too. I loved the X-Generation for the Pens and it turned into one of the biggest boosts in hockey that really hit it's high around the Winter Classic in Buffalo all the way to the winning of the Stanley Cup.

The Pirates are following almost the IDENTICAL timeline, just a lot longer. X-Generation years of going to the games and having a lot of fun because nobody was there. Now they are in their initial boom phase where the team is extremely likable and fun, and are contenders for the WS. If they win a WS, the correlation to how the Pens did it is identical.

But in terms of likability, the Pirates right now REALLY remind me of those 2007, 2008, 2009 Penguins. The marketing was extremely natural for the Pens. The city LOVED them. The players and locker room had a great identity. There was a great connection. The Pens really lost that when they didn't insert accountability after the Flyers loss. The Buccos have it. They have a clubhouse that you just cannot help but love. The players are extremely cool and awesome (from AJ to Cole to Cutch), the atmosphere is natural, the marketing is great.

I think the two have really followed similar paths.

 

[Shwag33]

The pirates success will be a lot shorter lived than the penguins.

 

[Empoleon8771]

The pirates success will be a lot shorter lived than the penguins.

Yeah that's just not true. Look at the Pirates farm system combined with who's locked up long term

 

[Winger for Hire]

The pirates success will be a lot shorter lived than the penguins.

Please go on and tell us all how Nutting is going to ruin the team.

If anything, the Pirates are being built for a more sustained run of success than the Pens are.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Steelers are clearly number 1, i'd give the Pirates a small edge right now for number 2.

But pretty soon i think the Pirates will be well ahead of the Pens.

Pirates are set up for long term success, while the pens have the worst prospects in hockey and there best players are around 27.

Pens window for winning is much smaller then the pirates right now.

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

The pirates success will be a lot shorter lived than the penguins.

Yeah, all those exciting Pens prospects in the pipeline.

 

[Shwag33]

Please go on and tell us all how Nutting is going to ruin the team.

If anything, the Pirates are being built for a more sustained run of success than the Pens are.

Are you kidding? The pirates need to make the playoffs for the next 5 years to equal where the pens are now.


It's laughable to even suggest the pirates will have a longer string of success.

 

[Winger for Hire]

Are you kidding? The pirates need to make the playoffs for the next 5 years to equal where the pens are now.


It's laughable to even suggest the pirates will have a longer string of success.

And they're the 2nd best team in the league right now, with everyone important locked down for at least 4 more years and a top 5 farm system.

But sure, 5 more years of playoff baseball (on the heels of 3 years of it) is just unspeakable.

 

[ColePens]

This is not the thread to debate Pirates future. We can keep that in the Buccos thread. This is to discuss where the fans see the Pirates, Steelers, and Pens.

 

[Asuna]

Dejan's site tracks the traffic for the 3 sports teams, here's the order:

1)Steelers
2)Penguins
3)Pirates

Apparently the Pirates aren't even close to the first two. Which is odd.

 

[Winger for Hire]

Dejan's site tracks the traffic for the 3 sports teams, here's the order:

1)Steelers
2)Penguins
3)Pirates

Apparently the Pirates aren't even close to the first two. Which is odd.

How much does he wrote about each? Big factor in the rankings.

 

[Asuna]

How much does he wrote about each? Big factor in the rankings.

Oh it most certainly is. I wasn't insinuating anything, it was just interesting to me.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

This is a perennial question and it's hard to really track, because the nature of each regular season is very different in each sport. I'm not going to deny the obvious preeminence of the Steelers in terms of quantity, but they also pretty much play their games on Sunday afternoons, and once a week makes it a lot easier for even casual fans to watch most of the games.

Whereas in the other sports, casual fans aren't going to tune in every single day or every Tues/Thurs/Sat for hockey. During the playoffs, however, the intensity around the teams has always felt similar to me.

In the end I really have no informed opinion here because I have stopped following hockey, and basically stopped following football except for kind of following the Eagles out of amusement (I've lived in Philly for three years). I'd guess it goes Steelers, Pirates, Pens, in part for the overall likeability of the Pirates right now, but the Pens could quickly redeem themselves if they actually play to their potential consistently, and from a libeability standpoint they'll have a boost from being a kind of underdog team this season (I think...).

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

As much as I pull for the Bucco's and want them to succeed, I cannot sit and watch a full baseball game. If the Bucco's were in the WS, that's about as close as I'm going to get to watch a full baseball game. And as much as I respect that sport and it's history, it's just not my thing.

Kinda off topic: obviously I'm biased but am I the only one who feels a little bitter that the Pirates, who have been the joke of pro sports for 20 years, became the darling of Pittsburgh sports seemingly over night due to a mere above .500 season? It took the Penguins decades, multiple generational legendary talents, and multiple Stanley Cups to even be on the sports radar here.