Jul 13, 2022 4 min read

Pittsburgh Steelers fans have been wildly unenthusiastic about Monday’s announcement that Heinz Field will be renamed Acrisure Stadium.

The stadium, home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Pittsburgh Panthers football team, has been known as Heinz Field since it opened in 2001.

But when Kraft Heinz opted not to extend its naming rights contract with the Steelers, Acrisure, a Michigan-based insurance brokerage firm, signed a 15-year deal.

Steelers fans and players – Ben Roethlisberger among them – have taken to social media to voice their displeasure and to declare that they will continue to call the stadium by the old moniker.

“I still call the Penguins home ice the Civic Arena, so I’ll probably still call this Heinz Field,” longtime Steelers fan Andrea Grosso posted on Facebook. “Star Lake Amphitheater changed names numerous times since it opened 30 years ago and now it’s back to its original name.”

Other fans suggested Acrisure should have chosen a name that pays homage to the storied history of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I think the company would have garnered more goodwill had they named it Rooney Stadium or Chuck Noll Field at Acrisure Park,” said Sue Tkach Tuttle.

Pam Jones of Washington was among a handful of people who said Acrisure “doesn’t sound like Pittsburgh,” and would prefer the naming rights belonged to a hometown company with “yinzer” connections.

Sarris Candies, a Canonsburg chocolate maker and ice cream parlor, teased on Facebook that it wouldn’t mind having naming rights.

“Will trade chocolate for naming rights,” the company posted above a photo of a stadium billboard with the name “Sarris Stadium” and chocolate-covered pretzels on it.

The post garnered more than 6,000 likes and nearly 500 comments.

“How about Primanti Park? But it will always be Heinz Field no matter what they call it,” wrote Jones.

Tom Zeni of Washington said “Acrisure Stadium” doesn’t have an appealing ring to it, and lacks name recognition.

“No one knows what Acrisure is, where they come from, or what they do,” he posted. “Impossible to grasp that and have it trip off your tongue.”

Even Roethlisberger, who played 124 regular season games at Heinz Field and won 93 of them, weighed in on the name change, saying “it doesn’t seem right or real.”

He posted on Twitter, “I will never forget the last game, and all the amazing fans at FOREVER HEINZ!”

Dave Smith of Cecil Township wonders what will become of the giant ketchup bottles atop the scoreboard, and noted that the new stadium name poses a problem each time the Steelers’ offense drives to the 20-yard line and enters the “Heinz Red Zone.”

“When the Steelers enter the inside the 20 yard line, it will have to be the Acrisure ‘Actuarial Zone,’ where we will carefully calculate the odds of going for it on fourth and goal,” he wrote on Facebook.

Others noted that in Southwestern Pennsylvania, people often call venues by the first name they were given, and pointed out that Washington Crown Center is still recognized as Franklin Mall. Kennywood’s Old Mill, too, went through several iterations – including Garfield’s Nightmare – before it was recently changed back to the Old Mill.

“They can name it whatever they want,” posted Lucy Corwin, “but everyone is going to call it Heinz Field.”

Note: News of the stadium name change has prompted Primanti Bros. to hold a contest to purchase the naming rights to 10 basements, fan caves, porches, or decks.

In exchange, for free Primanti sandwiches for one year, 10 Yinzers are asked to hang up custom Primanti signage and “eat in their Official Primanti Bros. Basement or on the PBros. Front Porch or out back on the Primanti’s Official Deck.”

Simply jump on the Primanti website and submit a picture of your space by Friday to be considered.

Winners will be announced on social media on Monday.