The city of Pittsburgh has been wanting a big NFL event in their city for a long time. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Art Rooney II have thrown out the idea of Acrisure Stadium hosting a Super Bowl, but most of those lofty wishes fell on deaf ears. With Acrisure Stadium being a smaller stadium, by NFL standards, the city and the team looked to possibly host another event which would still drive people to the city for an NFL event.

The event? The NFL Draft.

After Detroit hosted the 2024 NFL Draft and saw a record number of fans descend on the city for the festivities, it made even more sense for the push to host the event in Pittsburgh. With the 2025 NFL Draft being held in Green Bay, the next available event would be the 2026 NFL Draft. At the league meetings this week, they voted to finally give Pittsburgh the event they have desired for a long time.

The 2026 NFL Draft is headed to Pittsburgh! 🏈 pic.twitter.com/xnYduDeGXb

— NFL (@NFL) May 22, 2024

The city, and by proxy the Steelers, hosting the draft isn’t just great for fans of the black-and-gold to get an up-close-and-personal look at the event and newly drafted players, but also to drive a massive amount of money to the city. With all those fans coming to the host city, the hotels, bars and restaurants of past drafts all talk about the boom the event brought to the area for the 3-day selection process.

Will Pittsburgh ever host a Super Bowl? It’s unlikely, but the city could be a tremendous host city for an event like the NFL Draft. For all those SCN fans out there wondering what a 2026 draft in Pittsburgh means…it means get ready for a big-time SCN/FFSN meet-and-greet in 2026!!