Pirates fans delivered a message ownership can’t afford to overlook in 2027

The Pittsburgh Pirates spent years giving ownership an easy excuse.

Attendance was down. Interest had eroded. Fans were frustrated. PNC Park was too often filled with empty seats.

But after what happened in 2026, Bob Nutting and the Pirates can’t hide behind any of that anymore.

Pittsburgh drew 1,704,229 fans this season, its second-highest attendance total since 2017. The only season during that span that drew more was 2024, when 1,720,361 fans came through the gates at PNC Park.

The Pirates entered 2024 with momentum. They were coming off a 76-win campaign that, while hardly a breakthrough, at least represented progress. Paul Skenes was about to arrive. There was excitement surrounding the young pitching. The Pirates had given their fan base just enough reason to believe that maybe the rebuild was finally going somewhere.

Then 2025 happened. The Pirates went backward, finished with just 71 wins and once again tested the patience of a fan base that has already endured far more losing than it ever should have been asked to tolerate.

So naturally, 2026 started on worse footing. Through their first 25 home games in 2024, the Pirates drew 454,130 fans. Through the first 25 home games this season, they drew only 422,854.

Season-ticket sales and early-season attendance are largely built during the offseason. Fans are buying based on what the organization just showed them and what it appears capable of doing next. In 2024, there was hope. In 2026, there was skepticism.

But here is the number ownership should be studying closely this winter: After those first 25 games, the 2026 Pirates outdrew the 2024 club by roughly 15,000 fans over the rest of the home schedule. That's not the behavior of a fan base that has checked out. Once the Pirates became competitive, fans responded.

Pirates fans refused to disappear even after a season that tested them

Pittsburgh finished 82-80, secured its first winning season since 2018 and remained relevant deep enough into September to make games at PNC Park matter again.

Was that good enough? Absolutely not. A franchise doesn't get to take a victory lap for winning 82 games while missing the postseason, particularly when it still hasn't won a playoff series since 1979.

But the attendance numbers make one thing abundantly clear: Pirates fans are not the problem. They never were. More than 1.7 million of them showed up in a season that began under a cloud of skepticism created almost entirely by the organization itself.

The Pirates entered 2026 asking supporters to believe again after giving them little reason to do so. Fans eventually answered anyway. Now imagine what the response could look like in 2027 if the Pirates actually act like a team expecting to contend.

They should enter next season with significantly more goodwill than they had a year ago. An 82-win season is a much easier sell than a 71-win disaster. Season-ticket interest should be stronger. Opening-month crowds should be larger. There should be genuine anticipation surrounding a team with Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Konnor Griffin and a young core that has finally shown some tangible progress.

That is precisely why ownership cannot waste this offseason.

The Pirates can't point to payroll limitations, market size or uncertain fan support while simultaneously asking supporters to keep filling PNC Park. The fans have already demonstrated their willingness to invest. Now ownership has to demonstrate the same.

That means treating Brandon Lowe’s free agency like the important roster decision it is instead of searching for the cheapest replacement. It means adding legitimate offense rather than hoping internal improvement magically fixes every weakness. It means building around an elite pitching foundation while the opportunity exists instead of squeezing every last dollar out of a roster designed merely to hover around contention.

The Pirates spent much of Ben Cherington’s tenure telling fans to be patient. They spent years selling the promise that better days were ahead. In 2026, the fans rewarded even modest evidence that those better days might finally be arriving.

More than 1.7 million people came to PNC Park despite the Pirates beginning the season with less optimism than they had two years earlier. Attendance accelerated once the team gave people a reason to care.

That should terrify ownership as much as it encourages it. Because if the Pirates aggressively improve this roster and attendance climbs again, it will reinforce what Pittsburgh fans have argued for years: Winning sells.

And if ownership instead settles for another half-measure offseason and watches that momentum disappear? There will be no blaming the fans. They already sent their message. In 2027, it is ownership’s turn to answer it.

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