PHOENIX — A month after the NFLPA players survey blasted the Steelers facilities at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, team president Art Rooney II responded by saying that the team is always open to upgrading the facility and allowing the players to have their voice.
The survey, which pegged the Steelers as a D+ for their facilities, detailed the issues the players had with the facility, including what they believed to be a lack of investment into the facility and a woefully undersized locker room. Those two complaints brought down their score in that area.
“The common theme that arose through player respondents’ feedback was a feeling that there is a lack of resources and investment into the facility,” the report read. “Player respondents believe that the team is understaffed in both the weight room and the training room.”
When asked about the rating on Tuesday, Rooney noted he had not seen the survey and questioned the sampling methods of it. However, the team has an open-door policy and the complaints can be heeded. In fact, Rooney noted that the team is always open to upgrading its facilities.
“You know, I haven’t seen the survey,” Rooney said. “And so, I really have some questions about how many players participated in that survey. Irrespective of that, we’re always looking to try and improve our facilities. We expanded the facility a few years ago. We’re always open to ideas on what we need to improve, and we think we have a great facility, but you can always improve.”
Rooney noted he did not feel the survey was all too necessary as the team has an open-door policy with its players to address any concerns. Still, the issues they raised, in addition to facilities, were the staffing issues and the treatment of families on gameday.
Overall, they received a D+ grade for the locker room, C grade for the weight room, and D- grade for the training room, ranking 22nd, 25th, and 27th respectively in the league. It is one of the harsher grades for the Steelers, but only 44 percent of the players felt like team president Art Rooney II would invest money to upgrade those facilities. The Steelers are one of the more valuable franchises, but the Rooney Family is worth just over $1 billion according to Forbes, putting them in the bottom 10 percent of sports franchises.