Fan Experience Elevated at Petersen Events Center with Upgrade for 2024-25
11/2/2024 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – Pitt Athletics, along with its venue management and live experience partner ASM Global and food services partner Chartwells, continue to improve the overall gameday experience at the Petersen Events Center by taking several measures to improve the fan experience at one of the best on-campus venues in the country.
RALLY HOUSE PANTHERS TEAM STORE
Rally House, a leading sports and merchandise retailer, is now the official team store for University of Pittsburgh Athletics. The Rally House Panthers Team Store, located in the Thomas E. Richards Family Lobby at the Petersen Events Center, held its grand opening in September and offers an impressive assortment of authentic Pitt apparel and merchandise from the top brands in the industry. This new partnership will also benefit students and fans with easier access to Pitt gear from the Rally House Panthers Team Store online and at the many Rally House locations around Pennsylvania.
Rally House stands out for its focus on superior customer service as patrons can buy online, pick-up in store, and make simple returns at any physical storefront. The Rally House Panthers Team Store will also be at other Pitt ticketed venues, including Acrisure Stadium (football), Fitzgerald Field House (volleyball, wrestling, gymnastics), and Petersen Sports Complex (baseball, soccer, softball).
CALIENTE PIZZA & OTHER EXCITING NEW CONCESSIONS OFFERINGS
With convenience and efficiency in mind, Pitt utilizes mobile concessions ordering at the Petersen Events Center through the Pitt Panthers Gameday Mobile App. Fans can avoid concessions lines by placing food and beverage orders through the mobile app and picking up their orders throughout the arena. The Pitt Panthers Gameday Mobile App is available to download on Apple or Google Play.
The Petersen Events Center added a second express market for snacks and beverages that offers fans a fast frictionless way to shop. The new Just Walk Out location, offering hot food options on gameday, is located at the Hardwood Café concession location.
Amazon's Just Walk Out technology uses artificial intelligence such as computer vision and deep learning techniques, including generative AI, to accurately determine who took what in any retail environment. This technology is designed to eliminate checkout lines and allow customers to spend less time shopping and get back to the action quicker.
Exclusive to the VenueNext mobile ordering with pick up locations at Coaches Corner and Baseline Grill concessions locations is a $5 Family Value Pack with the following offering: jumbo jot dog, jumbo pretzel, regular nachos, regular popcorn, regular soft drinks, or Pitt IC Light 12-ounce can. The Family Value menu will be available during men's basketball games until the 10-minute mark of the second half.
Pitt and Chartwells is also excited to launch a pizza program this year with Caliente Pizza with ordering and pickup options at the Coaches Corner, Fast Break, and Hardwood Café locations. Caliente Pizza & Draft House, a staple in Pittsburgh's top sports venues, is bringing its award-winning Sicilian-style pizza to the home of the Pitt Panthers.
Each location will also have additional new items for the 2024-25 season.
New Items By Location
Hardwood Café – Caliente Pizza, Italian sausage sandwich, chicken tenders & fries
Baseline Grill – Grilled chicken breast sandwich
Coaches Corner – Caliente Pizza, increased healthy menu options available at countertop coolers
Fast Break – Italian Fare – Caliente Pizza, pesto sandwich, open face Italian beef on a hoagie roll, Italian sausage soup; Healthy Fare – grain bowl with choice of protein, turkey club wrap, chicken Caeser wrap, buffalo chicken wrap, falafel wrap, Caesar salad, Greek salad, cucumber Italian salad, mixed berry cup, grape cup
ENHANCED AUDIO
Fans can expect an enhanced audio experience this season with 3D modeling of the PEC sound systems that ensures audio coverage of the bowl and suites evenly replacing the "hot spots" that existed within the previous system. The facility also added 98 new L-Acoustic speakers in the arena bowl to provide more clarity at a reduced volume level, while also increasing the intelligibility of the spoken PA audio to the bowl and the concourses. Integrating the speakers into the center of the arena above the LED board allows the audio to face the fans ensuring an even coverage for all seats, while adding additional subwoofers behind the new speaker arrays provides crisp clear base throughout the arena.
With more accurate and focused zoning for the speaker systems, the arena can now be zoned to accommodate its specific use cases. For example, an added "court only zone" allows the athletic teams to hear audio on the court without affecting the audio volume in the arena bowl or the offices in the arena. The addition of 405 new concourse speakers will also increase the clarity and coverage of all public address announcements throughout the building, while integrating the new concourse speakers into the arena safety systems allows for more coverage of fire and safety procedures.
Upgrading the arena control system will also allow suite holders to control their own audio in specific individual suites, while new speakers in the lobby of the arena allow the space to be its own zone with upgraded audio for athletic and special events.
SECURE YOUR TICKETS TODAY
Pitt offers several great ticket options for both men's basketball and women's basketball games at the Petersen Events Center, including season, mini plan, single game and group rate tickets. Call the Panthers Ticket Office at 800-643-PITT or search HERE to purchase your Pitt Basketball tickets now.
