The Pittsburgh Passion is a women's

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team based in the

Pittsburgh metropolitan area Greater Pittsburgh is a populous region centered around its largest city and economic hub, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The region encompasses Pittsburgh's urban core county, Allegheny, and six adjacent Pennsylvania counties: Armstrong, Beaver, ...

. The franchise was formed in March 2002 and is currently owned by Teresa Conn, Anthony Misitano, and the estate of

Franco Harris Franco Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Pittsburgh Steelers. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection ...

. The team is a part of the

Women's Football Alliance The Women's Football Alliance (WFA) is a professional full-contact Women's American football tackle minor league that began play in 2009. It is the largest 11-on-11 football league for women in the world, and the longest running active women's ...

, with home games played at

West Allegheny High School West Allegheny Senior High School is a public high school located in the West Allegheny School District in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The school serves students in grades 9-12 from Findlay Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvani ...

Imperial, Pennsylvania Imperial is a census-designated place (CDP) in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States and part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The community was formerly part of the Imperial-Enlow CDP before splitting into two separate CDP's. The p ...

History

In 2003, the Passion played its home games at

Belle Vernon Belle Vernon is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. It is situated along the Monongahela River abutting two other counties, Westmoreland to the north and Washington across the river. As of the 2020 census Belle Vernon had a population of ...

Area High School. The team finished its inaugural season with a 2–6 record. The average attendance at each of their four home games that season was between 2,500 and 3,000 fans. In 2004 season, the Passion changed its home stadium to Ambridge High School's Moe Rubenstein Stadium. The team improved its regular season record to 6–2, just missing the playoffs as a Northern Conference wildcard team. The Passion led the league in attendance for 2004 with crowds approaching 4,000 fans per game. In 2005, the Passion carried an active roster of 55 players along with a

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. Starting in 2006, the Passion have played its home games at George K. Cupples Stadium (formerly "South Stadium") in the South Side of Pittsburgh. In 2007, the Passion recorded an undefeated regular season going 8–0. After winning all three of their home playoff games, the team improved to 11-0 after victories over

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

, the West Michigan Mayhem, and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. The team then won the National Championship Game on July 21, 2007, against the

Columbus Comets The Columbus Comets are a women's professional American football team based in Columbus, Ohio. They play in the Women's Football Alliance. The Comets played in the National Women's Football Association from their inception in 2003 until 2008 (i ...

by a score of 32–0. In 2008, the Passion recorded their second consecutive perfect regular season, finishing 8–0, winning the North Atlantic Division title, and defeating the Orlando Mayhem in the Eastern Conference Semifinal. However, they lost the Eastern Conference Championship to the

Chicago Force The Chicago Force was a women's American football team. Founded in 2003 by Lisa Cole, the team played at De La Salle HS & St. Rita HS – both on Chicago's South side; Lane Stadium at Lane Technical College Prep High School, Holmgren Athletic Com ...

by a score of 8–7, ending their 23-game winning streak that dated back to 2006. In 2009, the Passion finished 7–1, good for the Eastern Conference wild card spot. However, they lost the Eastern Conference Semifinal to eventual conference champion D.C. Divas 27–17. In 2010, the Passion finished 4-4, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006. For 2011, the Passion joined the

. They finished their inaugural regular season with a perfect 8-0 and won the Mid-Atlantic Division title before losing to the

in the National Conference quarterfinal game. In 2014 and 2015 they won the IWFL Championship in Rock Hill, SC May 21, 2016 The Passion won the NFC Central North Division with this victory and it is their 6th Division title in team history.

Notable achievements

* First women's football franchise in history to broadcast games on a major television network (

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

) * First franchise to be featured in ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' * First franchise to be featured on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

* Awarded a permanent fixture in the

Heinz History Center The Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the largest history museum in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. Named after U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III (1938–1991) from Pennsy ...

's Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum in association with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. * Won the

Dapper Dan Charities The Dapper Dan Charities were founded by ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' editor Al Abrams in 1936. It is one of the oldest nonprofit and fundraising community sports clubs in the world and the oldest in Western Pennsylvania. The foundation fundraises ...

Sportswoman of the Year Award for 2011–12. * Franchise was selected to host the WFA National Championship Game slated for August 4 in Pittsburgh. * The W Bowl National Championship weekend, hosted by the Women's Professional Sports Services, on July 21–23, 2016 in Pittsburgh, PA.

Season-By-Season

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Pittsburgh Passion (NWFA) , - , 2003 , , 2 , , 6 , , 0 , , 4th Mid-Atlantic Division , , -- , - , 2004 , , 6 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2nd North Mid-Atlantic , , -- , - , 2005 , , 5 , , 3 , , 0 , , 9th North Division , , -- , - , 2006 , , 5 , , 3 , , 0 , , 3rd North Central , , -- , - , 2007 , , 8 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st North Central , , Won Northern Conference Quarterfinal (

)
Won Northern Conference Semifinal (

West Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pe ...

)
Won Northern Conference Championship (

)
Won NWFA Championship (

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Pittsburgh Passion (IWFL) , - , 2008 , , 8 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st East North Atlantic , , Won Eastern Conference Semifinal (

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

)
Lost Eastern Conference Championship (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) , - , 2009 , , 7 , , 1 , , 0 , , 2nd East Mid Atlantic , , Lost Eastern Conference Semifinal ( D.C.) , - , 2010 , , 4 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3rd East Northeast , , -- , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Pittsburgh Passion (WFA) , - , 2011 , , 8 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st National Mid-Atlantic , , Lost National Conference Quarterfinal (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) , - , 2012 , , 7 , , 1 , , 0 , , 2nd National Division 3 , , Won National Conference First Round (

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

)
Lost National Conference Quarterfinal ( D.C.) , - !Totals , , 66 , , 24 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs) * = current standing

Roster

2009

Season Schedule

2010

Season Schedule

2011

Standings

Season Schedule

2012

Standings

Season Schedule

Passion Defeat Atlanta 35-24 In 1st Round Of Playoffs 10 Pittsburgh Passion Players Named To WFA All American Teams

External links

Official website

WFA website
{{Pennsylvania Sports National Women's Football Association teams Women's Football Alliance teams American football teams in Pittsburgh American football teams established in 2003 2003 establishments in Pennsylvania Women's sports in Pennsylvania