Pirates Fans Accost Owner Bob Nutting at Home Opener
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates had an eventful home opener, with many exciting parts happening off the field.
Pirates owner Bob Nutting showed up to the home opener and walked around the rotunda in left field, where fans accosted him, chanting "Sell The Team" at him while he went past.
Bob picked the wrong day to walk to suite level on the rotunda. pic.twitter.com/gFTZVndTI3
— Gabe Mazefsky (@abuccofan) April 4, 2025
The fans on the rotunda wore "Sell The Team" shirts, which the "Our Team, Not His" fan group has distributed out at numerous occasions.
The "Our Team, Not His" has demands that Nutting sell the team, as they're tired of the constant losing and want "winning baseball to return to Pittsburgh."
"We're a group of frustrated, passionate Pittsburgh Pirates fans tired of the endless losing baseball in our great city," their introduction reads. "Rather than sit idly and complain, we decided to do something to create discomfort within the organization and call attention to the blatant dereliction of duty in hopes to affect change."
They organized two protests prior to the home opener vs. the New York Yankees. One occurred on Federal Street and the other had a plane fly a sign reading, "Sell the Team Bob" and also put in the website, ourteamnothis.com, around PNC Park
The plane cost a reported $4,000, according to Dejan Kovacevic of DK Pittsburgh Sports for the group of fans, as they hired a private plane operator to do this around Downtown and on the North Shore.
They held a protest Downtown that went to PNC Park back in October and also had one at PiratesFest at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in January.
The group also has a billboard campaign and put up four billboards around Pittsburgh last fall, reading "Abandon Ship, Bob! Sell The Team!"
The Pirates have struggled greatly for more than 30 years, with many rebuilds and little success for a fan base desperate for it.
Pittsburgh endured the longest consecutive streak of seasons below .500 from 1993-2012, 20 seasons long. They also have had just four winning seasons during that time as well, with an NLDS appearance in 2013 and Wild Card appearances in 2014 and 2015.
Bob Nutting has owned the Pirates since 2007 and the franchise holds a 1285-1535 win-loss record (.455) in his 19th season.
The Pirates had a projected Opening Day payroll of $89,975,500, per Cot's Contracts, which is $20 million lower than their next National League Central opponent in the Milwaukee Brewers at $109,141,136.
It was also the fourth lowest in baseball, with only the Miami Marlins at $68.9 million, Chicago White Sox at $74 million, the Athletics at $78.2 million and the Tampa Bay Rays at $82.9 million ranking lower than the Pirates.
Kovacevic released a report that found that the Pirates had a loss of $2.2 million, or the difference between operating revenues and expenses.
The Pirates are currently 2-6, as they lost three of their four games to the Miami Marlins, all coming on walk-offs, lost two of three against the Tampa Bay Rays and then 9-4 to the Yankees.
National media members have also suggested that Nutting sell the team, including Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and The Athletic as well as Pittsburgh native Pat McAfee.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.