Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ lease at Acrisure Stadium is up at the end of the 2030 season — just five years in the future, but if the Steelers are thinking about getting state money for a new stadium when their current least ends, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro has other ideas.
Speaking at the NASCAR race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., on Sunday, Shapiro said that he has concerns about the Pennsylvania budged in light of federal cuts under the administration of President Donald Trump, and doesn’t see sports stadiums as a spending priority.
“I’m very worried about the overall budget,” Shapiro said via the Associated Press. “I’m very worried about the overall economic situation given the federal cuts. You want to balance investing in tourism, investing in sports, investing in great arenas and facilities, with making sure that you’re also investing those dollars in things that Pennsylvanians need most. …
“I will tell you that we want to make sure the Steelers, we want to make sure the Eagles, and all of our pro teams have outstanding places to play That are welcoming for fans. That generate revenue. We’re going to continue to dialog with them about what they need and what’s possible.”
The Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles each moved into their present stadiums in the early 2000s, the Steelers in 2001 and the Eagles in 2003. The state committed funding to both stadiums, which also host college programs Pitt and Temple — state-related institutions.
This time around, though, the purse strings appear to be closed. The Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers announced in January that they will be privately financing a replacement for the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.
The Steelers have not made any public statements about preferring to replace Acrisure Stadium at the end of the current lease, and in fact, president Art Rooney II has suggested that the team will first look into an extension.
“We’d love to and we assume we will extend the lease at some point,” Rooney said in 2022. “We haven’t quite gotten to that point yet. … At some point, we’ll get into those discussions down the road”
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said he is still considering what to do with his team’s future stadium situation.
The trend of NFL stadiums being predominantly publicly funded has been waning in recent years. The Cleveland Browns are seeking $1.2 billion in public money, or half of what a new dome in suburban Brook Park is expected to cost.
The Washington Commanders are paying $2.7 billion of a $3.7 billion project to redevelop a large parcel of land that includes RFK Stadium into a new field for the Commanders and a large mixed-use development and riverfront park. The Los Angeles Rams privately paid a world-record $5.5 billion to construct SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in 2020.
Shapiro, who was instrumental in helping bring the 2026 NFL Draft to Pittsburgh, has a term that runs through 2027, and he will be eligible to...
