Art Rooney II finally brought the draft to the city, and he expects Pittsburgh to outdo Green Bay. The Packers’ hometown hosted the 2025 NFL Draft, which fared quite well, no question. But speaking to Steelers Nation Radio, Rooney thinks those are rookie numbers.
“I have been watching, observing where they’re putting everybody”, the Steelers president said, reflecting on Pittsburgh’s turn to host the draft in 2026. “And I have to say, I think we’ll have a lot more people than they had in Green Bay. They’ll be coming from all over”.
Over the three-day event, Green Bay paced Nashville from 2019 with roughly 600,000 attendees. That is the bar set for Pittsburgh as the Steelers move forward with preparations for next year. It will mark the first time they have ever hosted the event, so it should be a big deal.
And the Steelers have a wide diasporic fan base, well-represented outside of Pittsburgh. I could dive into the socioeconomics of the past 60 years of the city that contributed to those events, sure. Or you could just read The Ones Who Hit the Hardest if you’re interested in that perspective. No affiliate link, here, just recommending a good book.
While the Steelers and Pittsburgh are still finalizing venues for next year’s event, they should have gained invaluable insight from studying how Green Bay, Detroit, Nashville, and other host cities have tackled the draft over the several. And although they didn’t deliberately plan this, 2026 could be a big draft for them.
Not only will they potentially have a host of additional picks, many anticipate it is the year they are targeting to make a big move at quarterback. It would be football justice if the Steelers drafted their next franchise quarterback right in Pittsburgh.
That might sound like a fairy tale, but they are not unfamiliar with those. One happened in Detroit rather than Pittsburgh, but the Steelers’ 2005 Super Bowl run for Jerome Bettis was special. But if we’re being honest with ourselves, this is more about economics than warm and fuzzy sentiments.
The Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh want to host the draft because it will provide a revenue stream. That should factor in multiple ways and build over the course of the year. And regardless of what happens in the draft, creating expectations is the way to maximize attendance.
If Steelers fans believe they are getting Arch Manning in 2026, they will flock to Pittsburgh to witness potential history. And perhaps that’s a quiet hope the Steelers are secretly harboring. If they manage that, they should blow the doors off Green Bay. Even if they don’t, you know Pittsburgh will turn out.
