During Steve Pederson’s first weekend back on the job as Pitt’s athletic director in 2007, the… During Steve Pederson’s first weekend back on the job as Pitt’s athletic director in 2007, the Panthers defeated West Virginia 13-9 in one of the most memorable football games in school history.

A few months later, hoping to increase fan attendance and excitement at Heinz Field, he slashed student ticket prices by nearly 50 percent, resulting in a 76-percent boost in student ticket sales. And now, after Pitt football’s first winning season since 2004, he and Pitt athletics are taking things digital.

Using Facebook and a new ‘Students Only’ page on the Pitt Web site, Pitt athletics is hoping to reach students and fans to make things more accessible and, more importantly, to get some increased feedback.

The Facebook team page, ‘Pitt Panthers,’ allows fans to leave comments, view multimedia from recent games and reach info on upcoming games and events. The ‘Students Only’ page is similar.

It’s part of a plan to get students more involved in the process of Pitt football — something that helped bring about changes last season. Alongside Pitt marketing director Chris Ferris and director of ticket operations Reed Patterson, Pederson met before last year with groups of Pitt students to find out what they thought about the environment surrounding Pitt football.

The changes? Pitt’s student shuttle service from the Cathedral of Learning, which dropped students off Downtown in the past, changed its route and dropped students off closer to the stadium. New entrances were also opened, and events like the Great Tailgate were created.

Pederson and Ferris said they hope the Web sites will give the fans an opportunity to share their views, which eventually make the game-day environment more enjoyable and, with increased attendance, can give Pitt an advantage on the field.

‘We always want to hear what the fans have to say,’ said Pederson. ‘It’s a different view of things from where we park and where we enter. And sometimes people have the tendency to forget about that.’

A major change that Pitt hopes will get fans more involved is the annual Blue-Gold game, which Pitt moved to Saturday, April 11. Before the intra-squad scrimmage, Pitt will conduct a football clinic for children 12 and younger on Heinz Field, while fans will also get a chance to talk with coaches in the club lounge. Events begin at 12:30 p.m., and the scrimmage will begin at 2 p.m. All are free to the public.

It’s the kind of thing Pitt wants to do to help generate new excitement for the upcoming season and eventually sell out each Pitt home game — a task that requires filling about 65,000 seats. Last season, after a revamped marketing plan, Pitt averaged about 50,000 fans per game, up 60 percent from a year before.

Pitt’s hope of achieving that goal was answered in a smaller way at the end of last year, when it sold out its game against West Virginia, the final home game. It was the first sellout since the Panthers hosted Notre Dame on opening day of the 2005 season, and Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said after the game how much the crowd made a difference.

Another key to gaining increased fan support is a strong schedule, which is something Pitt anticipates. Pitt plays host to non-conference opponents Navy and Notre Dame — both programs that always draw a crowd. Big East opponents playing at Heinz Field include Cincinnati, Connecticut and South Florida, each of which made bowl appearances last year. The seven home games are one more than Pitt had last year.

Still, nothing helps excitement more than winning.

‘Of course, that’s a major part of it,’ said Ferris. ‘But we’re excited to do what we can do for the fans, for this opportunity.’

Because of the vast improvements in fan turnout from the 2007 to the 2008 season, the marketing plan and ticket prices for 2009 hasn’t changed much from last year. Student ticket packages are still $25, down from $49 during the 2007 season. Meanwhile, non-student ticket holders are seeing a $10 increase for their season-ticket package, but also get one more home game, meaning they’re actually paying less money per ticket.

‘With the way things have been recently,’ said Pederson, ‘We did what we think is fair.’

Pitt opens its season against Youngstown State on Sept. 5.

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