The Pittsburgh Steelers are making some subtle changes to Acrisure Stadium for the 2026 NFL season. Having opened in 2001 as Heinz Field, the Steelers’ home territory has become infamous for its 68,400-strong “sea of gold” seating. Acrisure Stadium is getting a facelift with black seats getting dotted aroundGettyBut it can also be a bit of an eyesore, especially for those watching NFL games on TV.Steelers president Art Rooney II has therefore decided to give the stadium a little facelift ahead of 2026. Now there will be black seats dotted in and around the gold seats on the upper deck, with the purpose of mitigating the impact of empty seats around the stadium. This is more visibly evident when fans start to scurry out in their masses toward the end of a game, with Acrisure also hosting Pitt college football games. “We were making changes to the seating,” Rooney said at the NFL owners meetings at the Arizona Biltmore resort. “The sea of gold sometimes gets overwhelming, so we did a little black and gold in there this time around.According to Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Sports & Exhibition Authority board announced back in October that it was set to replace 22,000 seats at Acrisure due to significant deterioration. The estimated cost of this was approximately $6 million. It is expected that by 2029, they will replace more than 58,000 outdoor seats. Unlike other stadiums across sports all over the world that have used the differentiation of seat coloring to depict messages, Acrisure’s addition of black seats is just “random.”The yellow seats really stand out when they are emptyGettyAaron Rodgers’ future for the 2026 season is still undeterminedgetty“It’s a random pattern,” Rooney II confirmed. “There’s no spelling to it.”Steelers’ still without a QB1The Steelers – who are worth an estimated $6.5 billion – are currently entering the 2026 NFL regular season without confirmation over whether future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers will return. In 2025, the 42-year-old completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns to just seven interceptions as he led the Pittsburgh to their first AFC North title since 2020. But following the departure of long-time head coach Mike Tomlin, who looks primed to transition into a career in TV, Rodgers has still not made up his mind over whether he will return or whether he will call time on his career entirely.Rooney, though, expects a decision to come prior to the 2026 NFL Draft, which begins on April 23. “I still expect that,” Rooney said on March 29. “I expect we’ll get an answer before the draft.“When I talked to him and Omar [Khan, Steelers general manager] talked to him, he told us he wasn’t going to take as long this year as he did last year [to make a decision].“I’m not 100% sure what that means, but I expect something before the draft.”As it stands, the Steelers only currently have QBs Will Howard – who has already drawn high praise from new head coach Mike McCarthy – and veteran Mason Rudolph contracted to the team. Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for all the news, exclusives, interviews and more.