PITTSBURGH — The 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh is expected to be the biggest event in the city’s history.
“This is a game-changer for our region and a defining moment for Pittsburgh,” said Michele Meloy Burchfield of VisitPittsburgh.
The NFL Draft is still 392 days away, but planning has been well underway.
“In just 13 short months, we will welcome between 500,000 to 700,000 visitors to the shores of Downtown Pittsburgh,” said Jerad Bachar of VisitPittsburgh.
On Wednesday, some conceptual renderings of how the Draft in the Steel City will look were shown at VisitPittsburgh’s annual meeting. While the exact plans aren’t finalized just yet, this is the first time the NFL Draft will have two main locations separated by a river.
“Then NFL looks at it as an opportunity. Obviously, it’s a challenge that’s uniquely Pittsburgh, but there’s also a lot that we can offer from a solution standpoint,” Bachar added.
Those challenges are transportation between the Point and the North Shore, and public safety.
“I’m very confident in the meetings that we’ve had with public safety, city police, county police, state police, and everybody else involved. It’s going to be a very safe event for our city,” said Troy Schooley, CEO of P3R.
To make a weekend like this successful, organizers say they are going to need a “small army” of volunteers.
“We’re going to need probably 3,000 volunteers to help out throughout draft weekend,” Schooley said.
Schooley said local colleges have already been reaching out to get students involved as volunteers, too.
“The volunteerism in this city really shines when big events come in, so we don’t see it being an issue of collecting these volunteers and wanting people to be involved,” he said.
Not only are local businesses like hotels, restaurants, and museums ready for that busy weekend, VisitPittsburgh said they are looking forward to the 50 million people watching the draft on TV.
“They might not have known about Pittsburgh, but when they see it on TV and they see our bridges, and see our stadium, it also allows VisitPittsburgh and that team to be attract bigger events through out the upcoming years,” Schooley said.
VisitPittsburgh is sending a team of about 20 people to Green Bay, Wisconsin, next month to see what works for their draft — and what doesn’t — before Pittsburgh is officially on the clock for 2026.
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