Acrisure Stadium to get 22,000 new seats to replace ones in 'really bad shape'

Acrisure Stadium is set to get thousands of new seats over the next four years in a multimillion-dollar upgrade.

The Sports & Exhibition Authority board on Thursday unanimously agreed to pay over $6 million for the first phase of seat replacements, which will swap out more than 22,000 seats this year and next.

Most of the current seats are original to the stadium and in poor condition, authority Project Executive Doug Straley said.

Acrisure Stadium, which hosted its first game in 2001 when it opened as Heinz Field, has more than 68,000 seats, according to the authority.

Seats at Acrisure are coming loose, detaching from the concrete and rusting.

Some seats for those with disabilities are broken, Straley said, and other seats don’t open and close properly.

PSSI Stadium Corp., an arm of the Steelers, has been fixing those problems as they crop up in recent years, Straley said.

“Those repairs are becoming more difficult,” he said.

Money to replace the seats in the first phase comes from surcharges tacked on tickets sold for events at the North Shore venue.

Straley said the initial seat replacements are part of a $17 million project planned by PSSI to replace more than 58,000 seats over the next four years.

The authority board will have to approve future expenditures for seat replacements in later phases.

The seats set to be removed may be sold, though they’re in “really bad shape,” Straley said.

Any money made from the sales would return to the Sports & Exhibition Authority, which owns them.

Seat replacement comes as the North Shore has seen a slew of improvements in anticipation of the 2026 NFL Draft, which Pittsburgh will host in April.

A new turf field outside Acrisure Stadium will provide a space for additional programming for the draft and on Steelers game days. The stadium also is seeing new food options and technology improvements.

A countdown clock near the stadium is ticking down the moments until the city hosts the draft.