PHOTO BY DAVE DICELLO

It’s hard to say who are hotter prospects for next April’s NFL Draft in Pittsburgh: star athletes or short-term rental hosts.

Despite raising some prices tenfold, hosts are already signing up many draft lodgers. “Folks are starting to get busy and booked,” Michelle Senko, president of the Realtors Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh, says.

VisitPITTSBURGH estimates that the April 23-25 event will draw about 500,000 to 700,000 visitors, including fans, athletes, contractors, media crews, league workers and team workers. About 20% of them are expected to stay overnight at least once, and about 20% of those lodgers to choose short-term rental units instead of hotels or motels.

Chad Wise of HostWise Stays and the Steel City Short Term Rental Alliance says he’d bought PriceLabs data showing that about 11% of the short-term units in Pittsburgh proper were booked for the draft, nearly seven months ahead. He added that many people who didn’t normally rent out their homes would leave town that week to make room. One homeowner who usually rents out her carriage house planned to offer her main house as well.

A local resident who withheld her name created a website called accommodationsforthedraft.com. It listed two lodgings to date: houses in Oakmont asking $3,500 and $5,000 per night. The website creator – says, “My target is people who think it’s a cool idea to rent their place out and make some money, but don’t want to run an Airbnb or Vrbo on a continuing basis.”

One of her hosts says that she’d hold out for corporate, league or team staffs rather than fans, who’d be harder to hold accountable.

The area’s short-term rentals seem to be surging. According to data from AirDNA and Pricelabs, estimates range from 2,500 to 3,000 units listed on various platforms in Pittsburgh and 375 to 1,000 in Allegheny County suburbs that allow them. Pittsburgh Councilmember Deb Gross of District 7 says, “There are entire city blocks that have a lock box on the door handle.” She’s sponsoring bills 2025-2081 and 2025-2082, which, among other restrictions, would require the units to have local owners or managers and limit their number per building.

The county also has about 19,000 hotel rooms. Wise says, “My guess is people will be staying 40 minutes away.”

Proponents say that short-term rentals draw tourists and revitalize neighborhoods. Critics say that they deplete the stock of affordable homes for buyers or long-term rentals and cause parking shortages on narrow streets. Some units have also hosted parties that turned violent. Two teens were fatally shot on Easter of 2022 during a party that drew more than 200 people at a short-term rental on the North Side. More than three years later, no arrests have been made.

For better or worse, the industry seems to be prospering, especially during big events. Alex Cauley, corporate communications manager of VisitPITTSBURGH, says of the rotating draft’s next stop,“The short-term rentals will likely be doubled in price, where the hotels might increase 50% or so.” Wise’s data showed an average four-fold hike at rentals in Pittsburgh proper.

But it all depends on who’s hiking the ball. At last look, an Airbnb house in Swissvale was set to stay at its usual $605.34, including tax, for one guest for four nights. And an Airbnb room in Squirrel Hill would stay at $89.24 per night. “We keep our listings affordable for people to visit beautiful Pittsburgh,” said the Squirrel Hill co-host. “We don’t change the rates for events.”

But some hosts were seeking about ten times more money than usual. An Airbnb room in Shadyside would rise from $328.32 for four comparable nights this fall to $3,146.40 during the draft. A Vrbo townhome in the Upper Hill District would rise from $1,465.41 to $14,878.99. A Vrbo six-bedroom house on the North Side would rise from $4,735.96 to $47,785.12.

Cauley expected most overnight visitors to come a day or two before the draft and leave during its second or third day. The longer they stay, the likelier they’ll choose a short-term rental instead of a hotel.

The draft will take place outside Acrisure Stadium, and many festivities are expected at Point State Park.

The crowd was predicted to far exceed those for Steelers games, popular concerts, and this year’s U.S. Open in Oakmont. The golf tournament drew an estimated 200,000 visitors, who booked about 11,500 nights of lodgings.

A March report by the Joint State Government Commission lists 14 communities in Allegheny County with rules specific to short-term rentals. And the list is incomplete. For starters, it’s missing a ban in West View, which posted a notice in September: “With the excitement of the NFL Draft coming to Pittsburgh in 2026, residents are reminded that short-term rentals (less than 90 days) of homes in West View are not permitted.”