Football ticket, or a ticket to misbehave?

Two years ago, Andrew Allen had to get out of his car to direct his wife through a "minefield" of broken glass and trash ringing Heinz Field after a University of Pittsburgh football game.

It was the last straw. Fed up with intoxicated, disrespectful fans, Allen gave up his Pitt Panthers season tickets. After watching Steelers fans yell obscenities and threaten a Cleveland Browns fan and his young son, he stopped going to Steelers games.

"I just gave up on the whole experience," said Allen, 65, of Mt. Washington. "I would have to say that Attila the Hun would have been much more orderly. The behavior around Heinz Field was the following: Everybody'd drink until they got so sick, they'd throw up all over the parking lot, break glass and throw trash everywhere."

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review examined police reports filed 10 hours before, during and after 24 games at Heinz Field last year through September. Of the 37 incidents reported, 30 -- more than 80 percent -- detailed thefts, alcohol-related offenses and assaults. Twenty-five incidents -- or 68 percent -- happened on days when kick-off was after 4 p.m., even though that accounts for fewer than half the games.

With the Backyard Brawl -- the annual Pitt vs. West Virginia University football rivalry -- kicking off at 7:30 tonight, security will be stepped up in the parking lots surrounding Heinz Field.

"There will be a little bit more (security) because it's West Virginia," said Alco Parking President Merrill Stabile. "It's become party central."

Lt. Martin Sanders, a Pittsburgh firefighter, was suspended without pay after calling in sick to attend an evening Steelers game on Oct. 15, where he is accused of exposing himself and fighting with security guards and officers. Sanders' lawyer said his client was intoxicated. Sanders is awaiting trial on charges including assault, indecent exposure and resisting arrest.

The Steelers and Pitt would not provide statistics on the number of complaints filed in the stadium or the number of people ejected. Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett said it was not the team's policy to disclose the numbers. Pitt referred comments to Jimmy Sacco, Heinz Field's executive director of stadium management. He did not return phone calls.

The parking lots surrounding Heinz Field open five hours before kick-off, but for evening games fans often arrive hours before that and park along streets to begin tailgating.

"The later games allow more opportunity to ingest alcoholic beverages," said Lt. Christopher Ragland, a Pittsburgh police officer based in the North Side.

Many people say they aren't concerned with the drinking and profane language that keep others away, and fans still turn out in droves for games at Heinz Field. It's a 10-year wait for season tickets to Steelers games.

"I've never had a problem and, as you can see, we have a lot of people here," said Mitchell Ackerman, of Beaver Falls, Beaver County, who has had Steelers season tickets since 1970. He brought his son, Austin, 7, to a large tailgate party before attending the recent Steelers-Broncos game.

The parking lots that play host to pre-game tailgating are owned by Alco Parking, which employs off-duty city police officers to monitor them. Alco does not keep statistics on complaints.

"Occasionally people will do things as a result of their tailgating activities that cause damage, and that's another reason why we try to control it as best we can," said Stabile. "Footballs dent cars. We're not interested in killing people's fun, but we can't allow people to have fun at the expense of others."

Leonard Zaichkowsky, a sports psychologist at Boston University who researches fan behavior, said the high cost of tickets gives some fans a sense of entitlement to behave how they want. Season tickets range from $550 to more than $2,000 for the Steelers, and $99 to $315 for Pitt.

"The customers feel they have some rights associated with paying, say, $100 for a ticket. It's misplaced rights -- misbehaving and being obnoxious," he said. "When you prompt rowdy fans, they tell you, 'Damn it, I'm paying big bucks, I want to enjoy myself.' "

A crowd mentality fuels negative behavior such as excessive alcohol consumption and bad language, Zaichkowsky said.

"It is somewhat of a contagious thing, too," he said. "People feel they can hide behind others. Normally sane people start misbehaving when they see others acting that way."

Duane Schick, a Pittsburgh patrolman who worked game days in the stadium and on the North Side for three years, refuses to patrol them anymore "for any amount of money."

"Normal people that, if you deal with them during the week, they would say, 'Hello officer,' but for some reason during game days it's a contest of who can get the drunkest, and normal people have no respect," Schick said. "It's like the ticket to the game is their ticket to act like an idiot."

The Philadelphia Eagles used to be known for having the rowdiest fans in the National Football League, and a night court was installed in their old stadium to send a message that such behavior wouldn't be tolerated. At the new Lincoln Financial Field, Eagles fans rank "on the better side of average" for their behavior, said Leonard Bonacci, director of event operations at the field.

The Eagles managed to stem fan misbehavior by creating a hot line that people can call anonymously from cell phones to immediately report complaints. Security staffers monitor the complaint area and take appropriate action -- which could include revoking a fan's season tickets, Bonacci said.

"We were the first stadium in the country to launch that hot line," he said. "Everybody walks around with a cell phone, so it's the best way to put 120,000 eyeballs on each other."

The Steelers also have a hot line -- 412-697-7766 -- that people can call during games to report misbehavior, Lockett said.

"If people have a problem, they should call and let us know what the problem is," he said.

This year, Penn State University barred alcohol consumption in the parking lots around Beaver Stadium during games. The policy came after Penn Staters shoved and showered obscenities on the Ohio State marching band before last year's game.

More than a third of the 904 alcohol-related incidents reported to University Police during football games last year happened during the Ohio State-Penn State game. More than 20 people were hospitalized with alcohol poisoning, said Tyrone Parham, assistant director of police services at Penn State.

"It's three-and-a-half hours less of people drinking" since the policy was instituted, Parham said. "We used to have people tailgating in the lots who had no intention of going to the game, and they couldn't care less who is playing or what the score is. Now these people have to pack up and leave when the game starts, unless they stop drinking.

"So far it's working," he said. "We have less people going to the hospital, less issues with general fan behavior."

Beer isn't sold at Pitt football games, and alcohol sales are cut off by the start of the fourth quarter during Steelers day games and at the end of the half during night games.

Zaichkowsky said that the way to reverse rowdy fan behavior isn't necessarily to beef up security and that banning alcohol isn't realistic -- Coors Brewing has a $300 million, five-year sponsorship deal with the NFL.

"I'm still a big fan of education," he said. "I don't think we do enough of that. We need to educate people on what it means to be a good fan. We've got these incredible scoreboards that advertise all kinds of things. We should use them to remind people what a good fan is, what a good sport is."

Additional Information:

Details

Rowdy fans a problem?

Have you stopped going to games at Heinz Field because of rowdy fans• Have intoxicated or overzealous tailgaters upset you•

At the beginning of November, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review asked readers these questions. Click here to read their responses.

Hot line

The Steelers have a hot line -- 412-697-7766 -- that people can call during games to report misbehavior.