Pirates of PNC

Official Review by Joshua Guiher, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

PNC has been the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates since 2001. The park holds 38,496 fans. The park is an absolute masterpiece, one of the best parks in America. But, will the FANFARE score reflect this once we look at various aspects of the fan experience?

Food & Beverage    2

The game I attended was the first game of a long home stand and was a sellout days before the first pitch. Inexplicably the entire upper level only had Sierra Mist to drink for fountain soda. You had to go downstairs to get a fountain Pepsi or Diet Pepsi, and Mountain Dew was sold out in the entire park in both fountain and bottles. Since a 20oz bottled soda was $4.50, the 32oz fountain soda was "only" $5.25, a much better deal. You could also get a small fountain soda for $2.75 or a medium for $4.50.

Beer was $7.50 for a 16oz can or a draft beer was $5 for a regular or $7.75 for a large. The team has 14 different types of draft beer and 9 types of canned beer, but each stand carried a maximum of 4 types so you had to hunt around for the one you wanted.

The food stands were very specialized, making you have to go to different stands to get a few basic items. For instance, the stand closest to our section was the largest on the second level. It had nachos supreme ($6.75), popcorn ($4), pretzels ($3.75), jumbo hot dog ($5), soft serve cone ($4), regular hot dog ($2.75), peanuts ($4.25), cracker jacks ($4) and candy ($3). If you wanted pizza ($6) or chicken fingers with fries ($8.75), you had to go to different stands for each of these items.

The best thing to do is get a program (they are free), open it to the concession stand section and search for what you want and where the booth is located. However, don't expect the stand alone carts to be open, as all of them were closed on the second level except for the Dippin' Dots ($9!) stand.

You can get just about anything you can think of to eat at the park from kielbasa sandwiches, pierogies, fish sandwiches, Primanti bros. sandwiches, barbeque pork, etc., but most of the items are located at only one or two stands in the entire park, a real inconvenience.

New in 2012 there is a Chickie's & Pete's stand at PNC Park, so you can get the Philly favorite Crab Fries at a Pirates game. It definitely helps improve the food offerings.

Atmosphere    5

The Pirates do a great job of setting the atmosphere. You can really tell you are at a professional game with the way everything is presented. The video board provides all sorts of stats and information about the players including the players' weight, height and favorite movies. The only thing missing was shoe size.

On the banner board, they not only displayed the speed of the pitch, but also the vertical and horizontal movement of the pitch, a really neat feature.

The Pirate Parrot was all around the park, constantly interacting with fans.

Neighborhood    3

PNC Park is located on the North Shore of the city and shares a parking lot with Heinz Field. Outside of left field is Federal Street, with a huge assortment of bars and restaurants. Some of the most popular are Mullen's and SoHo. If you go before the game, SoHo always has a drink special and a bigger menu.

The rest of the area is largely parking lots that are shared between PNC Park and Heinz Field, and morphs into housing a few blocks away.

Fans    5

While franchises like the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays that have won or contended for the World Series title in recent years struggle to average 10,000 fans, the Pirates have had 18 (and counting) straight losing seasons, yet they draw good crowds. The game I attended was their fourth straight sellout and as of this review, the team has sold out 16 games so far this year, just three short of the all-time stadium record for a season.

If the ownership group would put a good product on the field, they would draw huge crowds all the time. Well, at least until Steelers season starts.

Access    2

With the stadium being built against the river, the network of roads to get there merges down to a single lane and causes traffic jams that can take an hour or more to move a mile. Please be aware of how many fans are expected and leave early for the game if attendance is expected to be over 20,000.

Once inside the park, you will find it extremely hard to move around. The concourses are way too small for large crowds and you can miss a couple of innings just to use the restroom.

Once you do find a bathroom they are very nice and well maintained.

Return on Investment    3

This is a bit subjective. If the team is going well, then you feel like you got your money's worth even when you pay face value, starting at $12. If the team is losing a lot, you can usually find tickets cheaper on the street.

The real knock is that you cannot order tickets without paying a transaction fee. Doesn't matter if you use the internet, phone or a reseller, and the fees are steep at $4 per ticket. As always, I would be much happier if they just charged me $16 for the $12 ticket so I know the cost up front. Our order of six adult tickets and one child ticket was a $25 transaction fee!

Extras    5

PNC Park is easily one of the top three ballparks in the major leagues. Another point for the great interaction by the Pirate Parrot. The displays of old jerseys and references to the old Negro league teams in Pittsburgh are amazing as well.

When you add in the beautiful view of the Pittsburgh skyline and the Roberto Clemente Bridge, you have a great setting for some Major League Baseball.

Final Thoughts

If you can get to the park on a low attendance night, I think you are going to enjoy the experience more as you will be able to find the food you want and actually have enough room to get there. Otherwise, be prepared to be packed like a sardine if you leave your seat to walk around.