The Pittsburgh Steelers have played in the same city since the franchise’s inception in 1933. It’s hard to imagine them ever leaving downtown. Charlie Batch, though, isn’t discounting any possibility. In the same stadium since 2001, Batch knows the time is near for the Steelers to decide what’s next.
“I promise you, conversations are happening behind the scenes to figure out what the next move is,” Batch told co-host Trai Essex on their The Snap Count podcast. “As the Rooneys are looking for an upgrade for their stadium. Which, rightfully so…what truly happens over the next five years because the North Shore was built out around Acrisure and PNC Stadiums. Again, both of those stadiums are coming up on 30 years old. So we’ll see what happens.”
Heinz Field opened this century, but it’s already one of the NFL’s older venues. As of 2026, it’s tied for the 14th-oldest now that the Buffalo Bills are moving into their new stadium starting this year. A surge of billion-dollar facilities has gone up in recent years, five over the last decade alone. All of them are high-tech and make Pittsburgh’s stadium look quaint.
Pittsburgh will have two options: renew its lease or build somewhere new. Right now, the former seems likely. The organization has made yearly upgrades to the stadium, a new playing surface being the latest addition, and there’s been no buzz or traction from owner Art Rooney II about making a bid for a new place to play. Those moves must come years in advance to secure any taxpayer funding, official city approval, and the actual construction. In 2024, he noted the goal of staying at Acrisure for a “long time.”
Batch doesn’t seem quite as confident.
“I’m going to stay silent on it,” Batch replied when Essex asserted there was “no way” the team would move out of the city. “That’s all I’m going to say. All I know is, you’ve been around Pittsburgh whenever the Penguins moved from downtown Pittsburgh to Cranberry.”
In 2015, the Penguins moved their practice facility north of the city to Cranberry, where the team remains today. NFL teams have begun doing similar with their home venues. The San Francisco 49ers moved 45 minutes away to Santa Clara, and the Chicago Bears’ next stadium will likely be out of the state in Hammond, Indiana, about 30 miles away.
Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field was in Oakland, just outside of downtown, as was Pitt Stadium, where it played for about a decade. Three Rivers and Acrisure were and are in the heart of the city.
Batch made clear he’s not reporting the Steelers will move. However, he understands the landscape is shifting and what has become the norm.
He also pointed out that the team’s practice facility is of a similar age. It’s far more likely that Pittsburgh packs up and leaves that building than changes stadiums. The team’s UPMC Sports Rooney Complex is one of the NFL’s smallest and receives annual poor reviews from players. Confined next to train tracks, expanding the facility is difficult, and going elsewhere makes more sense. Where that “somewhere” could be is anyone’s guess.
Given the cost of building a new practice facility, it’s increasingly doubtful Pittsburgh would also make a stadium change. Odds are, the team will renew its lease for at least the next decade, if not longer, while continuing to renovate.
One day, though, the Steelers will have a new stadium. Pittsburgh stayed in Three Rivers for 30 years. Acrisure Stadium is nearing the same age, and while it will likely outlast its predecessor, the Steelers will eventually break new ground at a new location.
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