ACRISURE STADIUM FIELD | PHOTO BY JOHN MATEY

In case you were wondering, yes, one of the giant Heinz ketchup bottles is still at Acrisure Stadium. Erin, our guide for the stadium’s 90-minute Ultimate Tour, told us that fact early on. Most of those working at the stadium were as blindsided as the rest of the city on July 11, 2022, when the Steelers announced the stadium name change, ending 21 years as Heinz Field.

“Well, it’s still Heinz Field to us,” a woman in the tour group called out.

This tour is one of six featured in our Visitors Guide. Explore the other tours here.

A week after the announcement, photos of one of the two famous Heinz ketchup bottles being hauled out of the city circulated widely on social media. The removal triggered such an uproar that the bottles were brought back, with one now displayed over the stadium’s aptly named Heinz Gate along Allegheny Avenue and other outside of the Heinz History Center in the Strip District.)

The Heinz Gate and ketchup bottle are favorite photo spots for tour-goers, and Erin is happy to take their pictures.

The tour begins in the stadium’s FedEx Great Hall. Acrisure Stadium is home to not only the Steelers but also the University of Pittsburgh football team; it also hosts local high school playoff games. Erin directs us to a wall display with the winners from past years, and I see my old high school, Gateway, listed several times among other names I recognize from marching band competitions and Friday night football games.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS | PHOTO BY JOHN MATEY

Despite it being a brisk March morning, there’s less of a breeze and more sun when we go out onto the field — or perhaps we’re feeling the heat from the more than 40 miles of copper wire installed beneath the Kentucky Bluegrass to keep it growing year-round. Erin says it’s speculated that on especially cold game days, former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would lie on the grass for a few moments after being tackled just to warm up.

Surprisingly, the first event held at the stadium wasn’t a football game, but an N’Sync concert, which Erin attended on Aug. 18, 2001. She likes to tell people she was on the field before any football player ever was.

And Acrisure does quite well as a concert venue. Last year’s Taylor Swift Eras Tour brought in 145,579 people over two days — the stadium’s largest event to date. For concerts, workers install a giant rubber cover to protect the grass.

Before we enter the locker room, we’re told the players requested nobody step on the large Steelers logos in the middle of the room. Supposedly it’s to keep them clean, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s a little superstition in there, too.

STEELERS LOCKER ROOM | PHOTO BY JOHN MATEY

Most tour-goers want to know where Big Ben’s locker used to be. Despite decorations on a few key players’ lockers and the large logos on the floor, the room is surprisingly bare. The players are here to do a job, Erin says, and then they leave. They spend most of their time practicing at a facility on the South Side.

Erin says the Pitt locker rooms are more lavish, but the tour doesn’t go inside.

CAM HEYWARD’S LOCKER | PHOTO BY JOHN MATEY

Back in the FedEx Great Hall, we’re shown six Lombardi trophies — replicas, as the real ones are at the South Side offices — as well as jerseys and other memorabilia from decades past, including a collection of Terrible Towels; I had no idea there were so many different kinds.

We end the tour in the Steelers Pro Shop, where our tour lanyards earn a 10% discount.

Even if sports aren’t your thing, it’s impossible to deny the sense of community Pittsburghers have around the Steelers. Whatever it’s called, Acrisure Stadium is a place for that community to come together and celebrate something they love.

Acrisure Stadium offers a variety of tours year-round, including game-day tours and access to the Steelers Hall of Honor Museum. Book them at acrisurestadium.com. The Ultimate Tour costs $25; the game-day tour, $250.