PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

The NFL Draft in Pittsburgh is just 393 days away.

And while the Steelers and tourism, city and regional leaders are gearing up for the April 23-25 2026 event that is likely to draw 500,000 to 700,000 fans to Pittsburgh, they’re also focusing on building a lasting legacy here.

“We want to make sure, that while the draft is only going to be here for a few days, that it leaves a really long, lasting legacy,” said Blayre Holmes Davis, senior director of community relations to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Some of that will be through a NFL Draft Source Program, which will be a directory of local and diverse businesses and suppliers that will be available to support the huge event. Applications for that program open April 1. It also will be run in collaboration with VisitPittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Related: Point State Park Will Host Festival for 2026 NFL Draft With Main Stage Outside Acrisure Stadium

The source program would provide a blueprint to build event-ready businesses here to support other large-scale events in the future. “This is an amazing opportunity to leave a lasting impact in our region,” Holmes Davis told an audience Wednesday at the Heinz History Center for the annual meeting of VisitPittsburgh.

The draft also will spotlight other amenities in the city, said Ashley Hamilton, director of event location, strategy and planning for the NFL, who also spoke at the VisitPittsburgh meeting.

“We try to lean into the culture in the city that we’re in,” she said. “We want to highlight the museums, the iconic food, the rich music history…we want to bring that to life.

“We’ll be working on that over the next 13 months to really make sure that you all are represented, not only locally, but on a global scale through our broadcast,” she said.

An estimated 50 million people are expected to watch the NFL draft from around the world. For visiting fans, many of these local amenities will be incorporated in an NFL OnePass, which will curate things people can do while here.

The NFL also encourages what she called “shoulder programming,” pop-up and other events scheduled before and after the draft days to bolster the festivities. Hamilton said that hotels would be in high demand by her staff and others even a month before the draft as officials descend on Pittsburgh to make preparations.

Hamilton said she’s looking forward to the challenge of having a draft footprint that includes the North Shore and Point State Park — divided by the Allegheny River. “This is the first to include two points across a river,” she said. They will try to make the connections as seamless as possible.

The VisitPittsburgh annual meeting comes during the organization’s 90th year.

“2024 marked another great year of travel across Allegheny County,” said Jerad Bachar, president and CEO of VisitPittsburgh. Allegheny County saw a nearly 4% increase in visitors — 21.2 million — compared to the number in 2023. The industry generated $6.8 billion in visitor spending, providing $377 million in state and local tax revenues. The tourism industry supports 42,000 jobs, he said.

“Tourism has always been and will continue to be a powerful force in shaping our region’s identity, ” Bachar said.

Also speaking at the annual meeting was Nitya Chambers, a Pittsburgh-area native who is senior vice president of content/executive editor at Lonely Planet. In October, Lonely Planet named Pittsburgh as the only U.S. city on its must-visit annual list for 2025.

“To me, Pittsburgh is the city of great balance…it is low key, unpretentious, authentic and genuine, with a true appetite for growth that I think is ambitious and visionary. Pittsburgh is an ideal as much as it is a destination.”