How will Pittsburgh accommodate the 2026 NFL Draft?
PITTSBURGH (WBOY) — With the 2025 NFL Draft behind us and last week's announcement that the 2027 draft will be in Washington, D.C., eyes are now turned to the 2026 host city: Pittsburgh. But how will the Steel City accommodate an event that seems to grow bigger every year?
In the NFL's announcement that Pittsburgh would be the host city in 2026, the league explained that the draft plans to incorporate parts of Acrisure Stadium and Point State Park, two of the most open spaces in the central area of the city.
Exact details on how the NFL plans to utilize the two locations have yet to be revealed to the public, but Emily Hatfield, Vice President, Marketing & Communications for VisitPITTSBURGH told 12 News that the North Shore will serve as the focal point for the event.
Hatfield added that the host committee is evaluating the best practices from previous host cities and that the NFL is largely interested in incorporating Point State Park and 'other key neighborhoods' with supporting events. The 2025 draft in Green Bay featured several of these events, including an autograph stage, lawn games and an area to view trophies and rings won by the Green Bay Packers.
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Hatfield said that the draft is expected to attract up to 700,000 fans from across the world over the course of the three-day event. She added that previous host cities have reported economic impacts ranging from $120-213 million, and the host committee expects Pittsburgh to fall 'well within that range.'
As the event grows closer, physical elements for the draft have already begun to appear, including the official countdown clock which was installed on the North Shore earlier this week in collaboration with two Pittsburgh-based companies: Actual Size and Carpenter Connection.
While this might be the first time that Pittsburgh has hosted the draft since the league moved it out of New York City in 2015, this isn't the first time in history. In 1936, Pittsburgh became the first-ever city to host the NFL Draft when the league debuted the event.
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