Did Pittsburgh Break Even on the Draft?

PHOTO BY OLLIE GRATZINGER

Now that the 2026 NFL Draft has passed, local leaders and organizers have begun looking back to assess the lasting impact of the massive event on the city’s economy and reputation. 

From the ground, reviews have been mixed; while Pittsburgh Regional Transit garnered acclaim for its efficient and well-traveled Football Flyer bus routes, some local businesses were in the spotlight for less glamorous reasons, sharing lower-than-average sales metrics at their stores and restaurants despite a record-number of Draft attendees. Once fans got into the Draft footprint, they seemed to stay there — a trend that has led some to ask whether the event was as big a financial boon to the city as many had believed it would be.

Jerad Bachar, president and CEO of VisitPITTSBURGH, says official numbers are still being crunched and likely won’t be available until later in the summer, but as a preliminary measurement, about $20 million was spent locally on the Draft. The city contributed $1 million, Allegheny County contributed $3 million, the Commonwealth contributed $10 million and VisitPITTSBURGH contributed $2 million. Some corporations and foundation funds also came in for special projects, too. The lion’s share of the expenses were covered by the NFL, including those related to building the stage and bringing in the players and prospects.

Based on data from previous events in previous cities, VisitPITTSBURGH estimates that the city will make between $120-$200 million in revenue from the Draft — a significant windfall, but Bachar also stresses that economic impact is only one part of what makes an event like the Draft successful or not.

He explains that the tourism organization has four vertical metrics it uses to measure the success of an event: one is, of course, economic benefit, and the others are PR and media, civic benefit and long-term investment.

From a marketing standpoint, the Draft thrived.

“The number of media impressions is going to be in the billions,” Bachar says. “It’s just an extraordinary amount of coverage that Pittsburgh gets out of this as a destination.”

Articles have appeared in national and international media, too, including Sports Illustrated, which wrote that the City of Pittsburgh was the true star of the Draft. Local and national influencers and content creators were also “just raving about how Pittsburgh really shined through,” Bachar says.

From the civic benefit angle comes civic pride, Bachar adds, which is something Pittsburgh has had from the start. 

“If you look around, Pittsburgh is very proud, whether you’re a football fan or not, in just how the city showed up and how it showed off for the event,” he says. “Pittsburgh has never looked better.”

This metric also includes charitable activations, including a GENYOUth event that raised money for Pittsburgh Public Schools to offset child hunger, and long-term improvements and additions made to city spaces as a result of the event. 

The Steelers and other NFL officials were present at a ribbon-cutting for a new athletic field at Hazelwood Green during the weekend of the Draft; Market Square got a considerable facelift; construction on Arts Landing was expedited and finished; a brand-new Allegheny Overlook was unveiled; and hundreds of thousands of dollars poured into refurbishing Point State Park.

“There’s nothing like a deadline to get things done,” Bachar says. “All of those organizations … were able to deliver those infrastructure projects, which will live on as a benefit to us. Residents will continue to enjoy that.” 

The city also invested in new roads and made repairs to crumbling sidewalks, and beautification efforts, like the Immaculate Collection, continue to address the city’s problem with trash and litter. Bachar adds that new trees are also being planted to replace the 73 on city property that had to be cut down during Draft construction. 

“We’re also going to plant close to 800 trees when it’s all said and done, in addition to investing in 400 different green beds in different communities across Allegheny County,” he says.

The Draft also brought significant opportunities for investors to visit the city and see what it has to offer. Bachar explains that the Department of Economic Continued Development out of the state, working with city and county officials, posted site selectors and potential corporate investors throughout the Draft. 

“We hosted event organizers, both corporate event organizers as well as sports event organizers, to show what Pittsburgh can do,” he says. “Those individuals will be able to pay dividends on return investments in future years.” 

As for the impact on small businesses — or, rather, the lack thereof — Bachar says the same exact scenario played out in Kansas City, Detroit and Green Bay when those cities hosted the Draft.

“That’s something that we knew was going to be a potential risk going into this,” he says. “Businesses that were outside of the Draft footprint don’t necessarily see the benefit as much as they would hope.”

The reason, he says, has less to do with mixed messaging — PennDOT’s signs on the highway encouraging folks to avoid nonessential travel, which were eventually taken down, for example — and more to do fan behavior.

“Fans want to be where the NFL is,” he says. “At the end of the day, fans want to be inside the Draft site, so that’s a challenge that comes with the NFL Draft in all cities: trying to get people outside to these other areas that are really excited to host fans.”

Despite this, he says VisitPITTSBURGH tried to encourage visitors to check out the city beyond the Draft’s immediate footprint; the Pittsburgh Guide to the NFL Draft the organization put out performed well, and it introduced toolkits and maps to ensure nearby businesses could promote themselves ahead of the event.

VisitPITTSBURGH also warned local businesses that they may not see the crowds they were hoping for.

“We’ve conducted over 80 presentations to civic groups, business groups and stakeholders, really talking about what the Draft is and what the Draft is not,” he says. “One of the messages that we often say was, if you’re not right next to the Draft site, you just need to be careful.”

With events of this scale, there are always going to be lessons learned, Bachar says, and even though the final financial figures won’t be in for another few months, VisitPITTSBURGH considers the Draft to have gone well. 

“One of the biggest success stories is just how well this community worked together,” he says. “Overall, I think we’re feeling really, really good about where we are.”