PITTSBURGH — After another losing season, a group of Pirates fans are getting creative to let team ownership and management know they are frustrated with the trajectory of the team.
Four billboards recently went up downtown, in the Strip District, in the West End and in Mount Washington. They read “Abandon ship, Bob! Sell the team.”
Pittsburgh native Zachary King paid for the ad campaign, but he said more than 250 fans have contributed to the effort through a GoFundMe page he initially set up as a joke. He also now runs a website for the effort called ourteamnothis.com.
“It’s no longer a joke. It’s a pretty big deal,” King said. “But really it’s 246 plus -- almost 250 frustrated fans, fellow donors that have made this happen. I’ve sent some emails and organized a bit, and I’ve done the easy work.”
Growing up in Pittsburgh, King said he immediately loved all Pittsburgh sports, but the Pirates were his first love. He has fond memories of attending games with his dad.
“It’s been 20-plus years of frustration,” King said. “The Pirates are starved for a winner. We got a taste in 2013 with that incredible turnout, blackout, whole bit, and we want more of that. We were told we were going to get more of that in the form of spending. It has not happened,”
He now lives in New York, but his passion for the team is just as strong.
Within hours of the billboards first going up, King said he heard from the team president, who told him the organization was paying attention.
“So we know that they see it. We know that they hear us. And that’s the objective we want, that un-comfortability. We want the embarrassment,” King said. “It wasn’t just last season. Last season was terrible. It’s been the last 30 seasons, and the last five seasons under his direction.”
Channel 11 reached out to the Pirates for comment, and the organization sent a statement from President Travis Williams: “We appreciate the passion of all our fans. In the end, we all want the same thing…to win. We are focusing all of our energy on building a team that can compete for the Postseason in 2025 and beyond. We know that our fans want and deserve that.”
As of Thursday morning, the GoFundMe had raised more than $18,400. King said that covered the cost of the first 4-week billboard run and almost enough to both renew the first four billboards and put up new ones. He encourages fans who are frustrated to make their voices heard and not just by complaining on social media or boycotting games. One suggestion he has is to show up in force at Pirates Fest wearing “sell the team” gear.
“My plea is, get off your butts and do something. Right? This may be a joke to some, but it’s us doing something,” he said.
“We’re not naive enough to think billboards alone, a few billboards, are going to force Bob Nutting sell the team,” King said. “We’re not going to stop making noise until there is change. And even if it’s change in the form of investing, legitimately investing in this team, similar to 2013, ‘14, and ‘15 where we make the playoffs, we make runs, payroll is up. That’s good. We want that. Otherwise, he needs to get out of town. He needs to sell a team,” King said.
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