Saturday night marked the last meeting at Heinz Field between Pitt and Penn State under their current agreement. Next year’s game in Happy Valley will be the final game of the agreement, and many do not foresee the two teams meeting again in the near future. During the broadcast, the ESPN commentators did a surprisingly good job distilling the key factors in what is preventing the rivalry from continuing. In short, both sides are to blame and the disputed issues are not recent developments.
On Pitt’s side, the broadcasters quoted Athletic Director Heather Lyke’s statement that Pitt needs to have seven home football games per year in order to raise enough revenue to sustain the other sports in the university.