Not even a concert is safe from Pirates fans’ 'Sell the Team!' chants

Pittsburgh Pirates fans have long been fed up with the team's direction, or lack thereof. Having one of the worst owners in sports has led the Pirates down a bleak path of ineptitude for far too long, and the club's latest failure to even execute a fire sale correctly has fans hoping that the latest malfeasance will be enough to force a sale.

Typically, frustrations like this would be voiced by the crowd in the stands at PNC Park, impassioned keyboard warriors on social media, and talk radio callers, but things have reached such a boiling point that fans have found new and unique ways to voice their displeasure.

An All-American Rejects concert at a local Sheetz was commandeered by disgruntled Pirates fans

Early 2000s pop-emo darlings the All-American Rejects have been bringing the good times back for nostalgic millennials performing "pop-up" concerts at unexpected locations, such as house parties and local gas stations.

Typically, these are joyous affairs where fans sing along to the tunes of their youth in more intimate settings than your average concert venue. However, with the misery that has plagued the greater Pittsburgh area during Bob Nutting's reign of terror, there can be no joy.

That's why when the band played a show at a Sheetz on Steubenville Pike in Robinson County, PA, on Friday, August 8, the atmosphere was anything but joyful. A group of disgruntled Pirates fans commandeered the show, starting a "Sell The Team" chant as the band played on.

It's tough not to succumb to the infections grooves of bangers like, "Swing Swing," and "Dirty Little Secret," but when your favorite team has endured almost non-stop losing for better part of the last two decades, and currently sits 26 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central, it's easy to not feel the joy.

Milwaukee, by the way, is an example of a small-market team that actually does the baseball part right, with a competent front office and exceptional player development. Their $113 million payroll in 2025 also looks positively exorbitant in comparison to the $83.6 million pittance Nutting is spending on this year's product in Pittsburgh.

That history, general incompetence, and a complete unwillingness to spend have fans rightfully enraged, and they are ready to voice their displeasure wherever and whenever until someone finally forces Nutting to "Move Along" and sell the team.