Art Rooney II Doubles Down on Bringing the NFL Draft to Pittsburgh
Photo by Jason Newman.
Back in November, it was reported that the NFL was eyeing the city of Pittsburgh to potentially host the NFL draft in the future. Burt Lauten, Steelers Director of Communication came out and made a statement, saying: “We have submitted our indication to the NFL office of the Steelers' and city's desire to host either the 2026 or 2027 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh…”
He continued: "The NFL Draft will draw hundreds of thousands of fans and out of town visitors, and we look forward to working with local and state officials and community leaders to ensure we craft a successful bid to host the 2026 or 2027 NFL Draft."
A decision on this could be made at the league meetings in May of this year.
While speaking with local media in Pittsburgh on Monday, Art Rooney II, owner and President of the Pittsburgh Steelers, doubled down on the team’s desire to host the draft, saying: “I would say we're deep in the process of preparing the bid to bringing the draft to Pittsburgh. We're optimistic that we'll bring it here in the not-too-distant future.”
Bringing the NFL draft to Pittsburgh could bring about a significant economic boom for the city. It would, effectively, ensure that for the better part of a whole week, Pittsburgh will be at the center of the sports world, and tons of eyes will be tuned in to watch every second of it. Not to mention the number of people that would be traveling to the city to follow along with all the festivities; not only fans, but also NFL star players, both past and present, media personalities, and team owners. It could be an absolute blast!
When I decided to travel to Pittsburgh for the first time in my life, I did it pretty blindly. I didn’t necessarily know much about it, I just knew that the Steelers were playing the Seahawks on Sunday Night Football, and I intended to be there. I left the city thinking it was one of the most beautiful cities I had ever seen in my life, which I was not expecting at all. I suspect that if the NFL draft comes to Pittsburgh, there will be tons of others that will have a similar experience. It’s not too often that you hear someone say “I’m gonna take a vacation to Pittsburgh.” However, more people should, because it’s an awesome place.
Hopefully the NFL and the city of Pittsburgh are able to come together and bring this to fruition in the coming years.
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