Bowl game here; all talk for now

BOWL, FROM D-1 pointed the finger at city officials for the lack of progress.

“We have always been interested in the possibility of bringing more major events to Heinz Field and the city,” said Jimmie Sacco, vice president of stadium operations and management, in a statement provided by the team to the Post-Gazette. “The reality is that we do not currently have the type of support from our landlord and local agencies that would be required to be competitive in attracting these events. The commitment and sense of urgency to keep the building up to date and to improve the fan experience is just not there.”

The landlord in question is the city’s Sports and Exhibition Authority, which has tangled with both teams over upgrades to the stadiums in recent years. The details of those cases have varied, but the central point of controversy has often been a question of what the city agency is obligated to pay under the terms of the teams’ leases at the stadiums versus what the teams would like it to pay.

The Steelers did not answer a request for clarification about what specific upgrades would be needed to stage a bowl game at a stadium that already plays host to more than a dozen college and professional games per year.

Regardless, Mary Conturo, executive director for the SEA, said enhancements to support a bowl game would not fall under the agency’s obligations under the Heinz Field lease.

“To the extent that there’d be some alterations that would be needed for events like bowl games, or whatever, it’s something that we don’t have revenues to cover,” she said. “It would have to be a discussion with others to determine whether it’s an event that the community would like to invest in.”

Among the “others” would likely be VisitPittsburgh, the top tourism promotion agency in the region.

That group has been at the forefront of the city’s efforts to recruit events as big as the Super Bowl, but a college postseason game isn’t high on the list of the organization’s sports-focused arm.

“The creation of a new bowl game has not been part of SportsPittsburgh’s longterm event strategy,” executive director Jennifer Hawkins said in a statement provided to the Post-Gazette. “However, we remain committed to supporting events that further position Pittsburgh as a world-class sports city. If the members of our community choose to consider hosting a future bowl game, we will happily participate, with other stakeholders, to review the process and ensure our application is well positioned for success.”

So if you’re keeping score, no one’s saying “no.” But they’re not saying “yes” either.

If a Pittsburgh bowl game is going to happen, a lot of the parties who are talking about talking now would actually need to come together and generate some agreements on what a bid would look like, and what parties would be responsible for which elements.

None of that seems imminent right now, but if you’re a fan of college ball, it’s also probably not too early to dream.