The city of Pittsburgh and the Steelers organization are awaiting word on a bid they submitted in February to host the 2026 or 2027 NFL Draft. NFL owners are meeting in Nashville this week, and an announcement could be made this week. Team president Art Rooney II expects an announcement this week, which would make sense given that there will be a meeting to discuss several league issues.
According to X's Athletic's Carolina Panthers beat writer Joe Person, Pittsburgh is on the list along with Denver.
The host city for the 2026 and 2027 NFL Draft could be announced at this week's spring meetings. Denver and Pittsburgh are potential candidates. Although Charlotte remained interested in hosting a future draft, he did not submit a formal bid for this round.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) May 17, 2024
Charlotte is interested but has not yet made a formal bid. I don't know all the details regarding this decision or situation, but if Pittsburgh and Denver are the two teams in the running, it would make sense for one of the two cities to host the event in 2026 and the other in 2027. That would be a good idea. .
WPXI's Jenna Harner interviewed several people close to the process in Pittsburgh for Sunday's article, and Visit Pittsburgh's CEO said the level of detail the league is working on at this point in the process is promising for Pittsburgh. He said it seems like it. That suggests 2026 is likely to be the outcome, but we won't have to wait long to find out.
Detroit set a new draft attendance record last month with 775,000 fans over three days. This resulted in an estimated net economic impact of $165 million to the city. The draft will be unlike any event Pittsburgh has ever hosted and will be a welcome economic boon for the city.
Roger Goodell appeared on The Pat McAfee Show during the 2024 NFL Draft and when asked about the possibility of Pittsburgh hosting a future draft, he said, “It could happen soon.” All signs point to being positive for the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh.