The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping the NFL Draft comes to the city. Weeks ago, 93.7 The Fan reported league personnel were visiting the city to consider Pittsburgh as the site of the 2026 NFL Draft. A Thursday morning article from the PPG’s Gerry Dulac essentially confirms that report, writing the team and city have submitted an official bid to host either the 2026 or 2027 NFL Draft.
From Dulac:
“The Steelers and City of Pittsburgh have submitted an official request to the NFL of their desire to host the three-day NFL draft in either 2026 or 2027 — an event that would have a significant economic impact on the city and businesses in the surrounding area.”
And it’s no longer just a report from an inside source. Per Dulac, Steelers spokesman Burt Lauren confirmed the team’s bid for one of those two years.
The NFL plans future draft locations out years in advance. The 2024 version will be held in Detroit while the 2025 draft will be centered in Green Bay. For years, the league always held the draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York City before rotating the location of the draft. In 2015, they held the draft elsewhere, choosing Chicago for the weekend. Past draft locations include Philadelphia and Cleveland while the 2023 draft was held in Kansas City.
Pittsburgh hosting a major event like the draft is overdue. One of the country’s best football towns, the draft would draw tens of thousands of fans from the city while drawing in countless more from around the country.
The Steelers took place in the very first NFL Draft held in 1936, three years after the team began playing in the league. From humble beginnings, many of the players selected back then opted against playing in the NFL (including the team’s first ever draft pick, Notre Dame’s William Shakespeare), the draft is now an event bigger than even regular season games. The first round is held on Thursday night, the second and third rounds Friday night, and the fourth through seventh rounds kickoff Saturday at noon and run through the evening.
Dulac goes on to report the draft would be held somewhere along the North Shore. It would not take place at Acrisure Stadium.
The NFL will announce the location of the 2026 draft in May, meaning it will still be several months before fans find out if and when the draft will come to Pittsburgh. But it sounds like it will happen soon enough. And the city figures to throw one heck of a party.
