In an email to season ticket holders, Pitt Athletic Director Heather Lyke announced some changes to where the Pitt Band and Panther Pitt student section are located:

“A New and Prominent “Panther Pitt” Student Section: This fall, a newly energized Panther Pitt student section will be augmented to run the width of the north end zone. Our students provide the “pulse” of Heinz Field and we want them located in an area where they can have the greatest impact on the game. Additionally, the Pitt Band will move from Section 131 to the corner adjacent to the visiting team tunnel. This location shift will make a noticeable difference in the quality of acoustics.”

Personally, I think this is a great idea. The Panther Pitt has always been somewhat awkwardly located in the corner of the field, and students arriving later get pushed up into the upper sections. This change should make the student section a bit more enveloping. Having students on both sides of the field goal posts should improve both the aesthetics of the student section and get them closer to the field. It should help them sound a bit louder as well.

Moving the band also seems to make sense. Having them face from the corner should help their sound carry better. I somewhat worry that their sections are going to be a bit awkwardly put together because of the cone shape of the sections they’re moving into, but I trust they’ll figure it out and/or Pitt consulted them on the change

Pitt released an updated seat map to show where the new locations are. Orange is the new student section locations, and light pink is where the band is.

Pitt also announced that season ticket renewals will start sometime in early March. Ticket prices seemed to have gone up very slightly for this season. You can find the updated prices here.

What do you think of the change in location for the band and student section? Are you upset with the prices increases? Let us know below.

Now the next step is to get the center Pitt logo shown in that photo to actually be that big on the field.