It’s a pretty big day (Saturday, April 18) for Pittsburgh sports.
And yet, once again, many of the traditional media gatekeepers continue to show that they’re out of touch with the City’s greater sports scene — completely bypassing the Riverhounds.
Following a series of social media posts and columns from prominent local media figures Joe Starkey (93.7 The Fan/TribLive) and Josh Yohe (The Athletic), fans, media members who cover the Riverhounds and those in the soccer community have launched a vocal counter-offensive.
With the excitement centered around Pittsburgh Penguins return to the playoffs, the Pirates success early in the season and with Paul Skenes on the mound on Saturday and the momentum headed into next week with the City hosting the NFL Draft, the response was ignited by two specific instances of what have left supporters and those from soccer community calling out blatant disrespect of the Riverhounds from the city’s sports landscape:
Earlier in the week, Yohe posted about the huge sports day in Pittsburgh, highlighting the Pirates’ game and the Penguins’ playoff-clinching momentum.
Despite the Riverhounds hosting a massive rivalry match against Detroit City FC at Highmark Stadium on the same evening (7 p.m. — here’s PSN’s in-depth preview), with an expected large crowd, they were completely omitted from Yohe’s list.
That was just the appetizer.
Later in the week, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and 93.7 The Fan host Joe Starkey recently published a piece celebrating the “return of the City of Champions” narrative, praising the trajectory of the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins.
Starkey complete ignored the Riverhounds entirely—even though the Hounds are the defending 2025 USL Championship title holders and are currently navigating a high-stakes 2026 campaign.
The rebuttal from the local soccer community, plus the Riverhounds and USL Championship too, has been swift and biting.
Supporters were quick to note that while the Pirates and Penguins struggle with their respective transitions, the Riverhounds consistently sell out Highmark Stadium, often creating a better per-capita atmosphere than the Big Three.
Other fans blasted the fact that it takes zero effort to include a professional soccer team in a list of daily sports events, and that the omission feels intentional rather than accidental.
It’s pretty clear that the Pittsburgh soccer community is tired of being the plus-one in the city’s sports conversation.
To their credit, there are some who have embraced the Pittsburgh soccer scene, namely 105.9 The X’s long-running afternoon sports talk show host Mark Madden, who has had Pittsburgh Soccer Now’s John Krysinsky on as a guest numerous times.
The Call to Action: Demand More Than the Big Three
If Pittsburgh truly aspires to maintain its City of Champions label, it’s time for many in the legacy media to stop acting like soccer is a guest in its own home.
The traditional gatekeepers at the big stations and major outlets are falling behind their own audience.
The data is clear: the fans are at Highmark, the trophies are in the case, and the culture is thriving.
We are seeing it with our massive uptick in readership here with Pittsburgh Soccer Now since we started in 2018 and John Krysinsky founded Pittsburgh Soccer Report before that in 2014.
How you can keep the pressure on:
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Don’t Just Complain, Tag Them: When you see a Pittsburgh Sports list that ignores the Hounds, respectfully tag the author and the outlet. Remind them that Highmark Stadium and soccer is part of the city’s professional fabric.
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Support Independent Coverage: Continue to share and engage with outlets that prioritize the Hounds. The more the numbers grow for soccer-specific coverage, the harder it becomes for the legacy outlets to ignore the market share they are losing.
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Pack Highmark: The loudest statement is a sellout. Every time the Steel Army creates an atmosphere that rivals a playoff hockey game or a summer afternoon at PNC Park, it makes the media’s omission look more like incompetence and less like a choice.
The Hounds are here to stay.
There will be more local Derby matches this Spring and early Summer between high level Pittsburgh Soccer teams.
There are players from the Pittsburgh area who are playing at the highest levels in the U.S. — in Major League Soccer and NWSL.
It’s time for the rest of Pittsburgh sports media to catch up.
Of course, Pittsburgh Soccer Now will continue to lead the way and provide the coverage the Riverhounds and all Pittsburgh Soccer teams —and this city—deserves.
Whether the gatekeepers like it or not, the beautiful game is no longer a niche in the 412; it’s the standard.
PSN’s Featured Community Partner: Open Field International
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