The city of Pittsburgh and the Steelers organization have been preparing to host a future NFL draft with various council meetings and approvals already out of the way, and today it was announced that they have been awarded the 2026 NFL Draft. Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported the news.
The NFL has officially awarded the 2026 NFL draft to Pittsburgh https://t.co/sPjp6Oqr3L
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) May 22, 2024
Steelers owner Art Rooney II announced the news alongside the NFL’s Peter O’Reilly at the NFL’s owners meetings in Nashville.
NFL’s Peter O’Reilly and Steelers owner Art Rooney announce that the 2026 NFL Draft will be held in Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/700C1zvBif
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 22, 2024
This is a huge deal for the city as it will bring a significant economic windfall to the area, not only during the three-day event, but for months and even years leading up to it with all the preparation and infrastructure work that goes into hosting.
Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Rooney cited Pittsburgh’s history as the reason why it is a worthy city to host the draft.
“The roots of pro football are deep in our region, and we plan to celebrate the tradition of great football,” Rooney said when announcing that Pittsburgh would host the draft.
Rooney also said the draft will be held near Acrisure Stadium and go into the downtown area. He also said it will be the “largest visitor event in the history of Pittsburgh,” per Jim Wyatt of Tennessee Titans.com.
.@steelers owner Art Rooney said the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh will most likely be held by the stadium, spilling over into the downtown area. pic.twitter.com/Z3ww6I9RmC
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) May 22, 2024
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is “thrilled” to partner with Pittsburgh.
“The NFL Draft is one of the biggest, most-anticipated sporting events of the year, and we’re thrilled to partner with the Pittsburgh Steelers and VisitPITTSBURGH for our 2026 event. We have a unique opportunity to spotlight this wonderful community on a global stage, benefiting Pittsburgh’s economy and entertaining football fans from all markets. We know this pride of Pennsylvania will shine bright in 2026,” Goodell said via Steelers.com.
This will be the first time that Pittsburgh has hosted the event since 1948 when it was held at Fort Pitt Hotel. Yes, the draft used to be such a small event that it could be hosted in the ballroom of a hotel. Now it brings in hundreds of thousands of fans and has to be hosted on a custom stage in a large area. The City of Pittsburgh tweeted its excitement, writing that the city is “honored” to host the draft.
The City of Pittsburgh is HONORED to welcome the 2026 NFL Draft to the Steel City! https://t.co/9l0NdraMWH
— City of Pittsburgh (@Pittsburgh) May 22, 2024
The most attended draft was the most recent one in Detroit, which just wrapped up last month. Pittsburgh will likely make a go for the record in a few years. Over 775,000 people were estimated to have attended the event in Detroit over the three days the draft was held.
For years, the event was hosted in New York City, but the NFL began moving it around in 2015 with Chicago, Philadelphia, Arlington, Nashville, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Kansas City, and most recently Detroit hosting it.
The 2025 NFL Draft next season will be held in Green Bay before heading to Pittsburgh.
