Acrisure Stadium Set To Receive More Upgrades

Acrisure Stadium is receiving its latest refresh. After installing a new playing surface earlier this offseason, the stadium is set to receive 18,000 seats.

Per The Trib’s Adam Babetski, the Pittsburgh Sports Exhibition Authority, the group that owns Acrisure, approved funding for new seats in the lower level of the east side of the stadium.

“Of the seats being replaces, 85% will be yellow while 15% will be gray, and each seat has stainless steel anchors, according to Lucas Kistler, the SEA’s director of facility services,” Babetski wrote.

The seating swap comes on the heels of more than 22,000 seats being approved for replacement last October. Pittsburgh’s big-picture plan is to replace more than 58,000 of the stadium’s over 68,000 seats. Past removed seats were put up for sale and presumably, the ones that will be replaced will follow suit.

The seats being changed out are original to the stadium, which opened in 2001. Already, Acrisure sits in the upper half of the NFL’s oldest stadiums as teams aim to build bigger and better than before. The seats being replaced were found to be in various states of disrepair.

Renovating the seats is more evidence the Steelers aren’t planning to build a new palace of their own. Owner Art Rooney II has intimated he intends to stay in the team’s current stadium for the foreseeable future. Pittsburgh’s lease is up in 2031, and the team will have to make a decision long before then.

Putting in the resources and money to upgrade the current location signals the team will renew the lease while perhaps building a brand new practice facility. The team’s current facility has received poor marks for its relatively cramped size and lack of amenities.

On July 1, Precision Turf announced it had completed laying down the new sod that will serve as Acrisure’s playing surface this season. A more durable grass aimed to withstand the many games played there – Steelers, Panthers and WPIAL Championships – along with Pittsburgh’s harsh winter climate.

In early 2026, the Steelers secured funding to replace 69 unit heaters. In 2025, the team improved its Wi-Fi capability along with adding external bollards to prevent vehicles from colliding into the stadium.

Previously, the team spent over $1 million upgrading its restrooms.