Wristbands are back

The wristbands are back, but this time, they are for football.

After dealing with… The wristbands are back, but this time, they are for football.

After dealing with over-crowding in the student section for Pitt’s football game against Notre Dame on Oct. 11, the athletics department realized that it needed to come up with a plan to ensure students’ safety. With Pitt’s biggest home games of the season coming up, the department needed to come up with a plan soon.

During the game against the Fighting Irish, students who left the section before halftime were not allowed back into the lower level because there were so many people already there.

“The issue was that all the students wanted into the lower level,” said Jim Earle, the associate athletics director for new business and fan development. “The aisles were filled because the section was overcrowded, and it was hard to determine when to shut off the flow.”

Starting with Saturday’s Homecoming game against Syracuse, students will be given a wristband as they enter the stadium. According to Earle, the wristbands will help Heinz Field security tell where a student is sitting.

“We want students [who] get there early to have the best seats, and we want the best seats to be full,” Earle said. “When they come in, students will grab a wristband. It shouldn’t be that difficult.”

Since the section is general admission, the earlier students arrive at the game, the closer to the field they would get to sit. By having a wristband, students will be able to prove that they were in the stadium early.

The average attendance among students last season was only 5,000, according to Earle, making it difficult to assign seats in the section.

“We’d have empty seats on the lower level,” he said. “This additional measure will help to avoid overcrowding.”

Although they knew that a lot of students would be attending the game, Earle admits that the department did not anticipate that there would be that many.

“We knew we’d have full student sections, but I would figure that they’d want to go upstairs, where there was more room to watch the game,” he said. “We didn’t expect it to be as it was, with people flooding into the aisles and blocking [them]. This was the first time it was that severe of an issue, and if the [football] team wins the big ones, it could get worse.”

While he realizes that students may have lost faith in the athletics department, Earle hopes that students realize the department is doing this for their safety.

“It’s going to take a while for us to regain credibility with the students,” Earle said.