Speculated about for years and rumored for months, the Pittsburgh Steelers could finally be hosting an NFL draft. And we should know by next week. According to team president Art Rooney II, the Steelers and league should know by next week if Pittsburgh will host the 2026 NFL Draft.
That info comes via 93.7 The Fan, sharing the news after Rooney spoke during a Q&A session Friday morning at a community event.
“It looks good, and we should find out next week,” Rooney told KDKA’s Michael Bartley.
Art Rooney says it looks good but we’ll find out for sure next week if Pittsburgh is getting the NFL Draft in 2026. https://t.co/sppbIrGUXr
— 93.7 The Fan (@937theFan) May 17, 2024
For years, fans have wondered if the draft would come to Pittsburgh. Last fall, rumors picked up that the NFL was sending “scouts” to check out the area and see if the city was suitable to host the league’s marquee offseason event. Pittsburgh officially submitted its bid in mid-February to host either the 2026 or 2027 event.
The 2025 NFL Draft will be held in Green Bay.
Next week is the second round of league meetings where they will determine the draft location two years from now. It’s unclear if they’ll announce the 2027 venue, too.
Bringing the draft to Pittsburgh would be a massive win for the city. It would boost the local economy with hotels and restaurants busy the whole week as fans flock to the event. Detroit broke crowd records for draft attendance with more than 775,000 attending over the three-day event. Nearly 300,000 of them showed up for the first round Thursday night. Projections showed the city would generate over $165 million in net economic impact through hosting the draft.
Since leaving New York’s Radio City Music Hall, the NFL has shipped the draft to a different location each year, taking it on tour around the country. Cold-weather climates that couldn’t host the Super Bowl, like Pittsburgh’s, view the draft as the next-best “get.” Roger Goodell said the demand for the draft nearly matches that of the Super Bowl. During the same time, Goodell hinted Pittsburgh could be the league’s choice.
“That might be coming soon,” he told Pat McAfee’s Show during draft weekend.
