A crowd gathered for Opening Day at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Friday, April 4, 2025, to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates face off against the New York Yankees. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ home schedule in September plays a significant role in determining whether the Pittsburgh Steelers can host early-season games, according to NFL Vice President of Broadcast Planning, Mike North.
Speaking on Wednesday, North explained that the NFL takes both teams’ schedules into account. As a result, the Steelers are scheduled to play away games during any September weekends when the Pirates are at home. This year, that means the Steelers will be on the road for Weeks 1 and 3 to accommodate the Pirates’ home games.
“It’s definitely something that’s influenced by the Pirates’ schedule,” North said during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan. “If we go a few years without scheduling a Steelers home opener due to the Pirates, and then finally get an opportunity, we have to take it. If we don’t, we risk running into more scheduling conflicts in future years. We’re always keeping this in mind, and there are no surprises for Omar Khan and the Steelers staff when the Pirates have home games during opening weekends.”
The question then becomes whether it’s feasible to host both teams on the same day. North acknowledged it has been done before, but the league prefers to avoid overlapping events for ease and logistics.
“Is it possible? Absolutely. I know you’ve done it before,” North said. “I recall one time having one game in the afternoon and the other at night. And if the Pirates start making postseason runs in October, we’ll have to figure out how to fit a Steelers game at 1 p.m. if there’s an NLCS matchup at 8 p.m. the same day. It can be done, but we typically avoid that scenario during the regular season.”
This kind of overlap last occurred in 2013, when the Steelers hosted the Bears on Sunday Night Football while the Pirates played earlier that day. However, the NFL has no intention of forcing such scheduling again, and the Steelers will continue to adjust around the Pirates’ calendar.
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