Similar to the report from the Pittsburgh Business Times a few days ago, there is another ally in the city of Pittsburgh’s push for hosting a future NFL draft. This time, the Sports & Exhibition Authority board authorized executive director Aaron Waller to enter into agreements with the NFL, the Steelers organization, and other city councils in support of eventually hosting one of the NFL’s biggest events, per Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Mark Belko.
The pending agreement among city leaders, as previously reported, is for either 2026 or 2027. The drafts up until then have already been decided by the NFL with Detroit hosting the extravaganza this year and Green Bay hosting it in 2025. It was held in New York City every year from 1965-2014, but after a brief two-year stint in Chicago, the NFL decided to move it from city to city each year. Over the last seven years, excluding the virtual COVID-19 draft in 2020, the draft has been staged in Philadelphia, Arlington, Nashville, Cleveland, Las Vegas, and Kansas City.
According to Belko’s article, the stadium authority plans to submit a formal bid in the coming weeks. With buy-in from the local authorities, that clears the first significant hurdle and will put the ball in the NFL’s court for making the ultimate decision. Hosting a draft would provide a lot of exposure to the city of Pittsburgh and provide an economic boost for the three-day event. It is hard to calculate the total monetary impact, but VisitPittsburgh estimates between a $120 million to $160 million windfall for the city. Here are some of the estimated attendances by city in each of the last several drafts, per Front Office Sports.
Team president Art Rooney II told Rob King in an interview on the Steelers’ website last week that he is optimistic the city will host a draft sometime in the near future.
The Green Bay draft site wasn’t announced until mid-May of last year, so there likely won’t be any news until a little later in the offseason. Warm up your vocal cords, Steelers fans. Roger Goodell could be coming to town.
