Pittsburgh draws record crowd for NFL draft
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Round Two of the NFL draft at Acrisure Stadium. Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images
Pittsburgh drew a record 805,000 fans over three days for the NFL draft, surpassing Detroit's previous high of 775,000.
The big picture: The spectacle drew far beyond the city's projected 500,000–700,000 attendees, though the tally likely doesn't reflect unique visitors.
- A lot happened in those three days. Here are the highlights.
Public transit success: High park-and-ride usage rates indicated ridership on the free Football Flyer buses and light-rail was strong across the event, but PRT spokesperson Adam Brandolph said the agency won't have full ridership stats until later this week.
- Most fans loved the free transit, reported TribLive.
- Some attendees said it took over two hours to get home on Thursday's draft night due to an exodus of Steelers fans leaving at once after the team's pick.
- Traffic was light throughout the three draft days. Parking garages near the draft lowered their rates on Friday due to less demand than anticipated.
Mixed biz review: Bars and restaurants near the draft campus saw packed crowds and strong sales, but beyond that core, some small businesses reported weak foot traffic despite extra staffing and inventory, as visitors stayed clustered around the event and regulars avoided expected crowds.
- This mirrored patterns seen in past host cities like Detroit, Green Bay, and Kansas City.
Big business pitch: Nine CEOs of major companies and scores of high-level marketing personnel attended the draft, per Sports Business Journal, as the region hopes to attract corporate relocations.
- Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor greeted some CEOs at the airport, and Gov. Josh Shapiro spent time with some shortly before festivities began.
Public safety wins: The large-scale event had no major public safety issues.
- There were three arrests within the draft footprint, and 17 arrests on the North Side and Downtown outside the draft campus over the three days, per Pittsburgh Public Safety.
New Steelers: Arizona State offensive lineman Max Iheanachor was selected in the first round by the Black and Gold, but only after the Eagles traded up and took a wide receiver the Steelers wanted. Here are the rest of the picks:
- Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, Georgia corner back Daylen Everette, Iowa offensive lineman Gennings Dunker, Iowa wide receiver Kaden Wetjen, Indiana fullback Riley Nowakowski, Notre Dame defensive lineman Gabriel Rubio, Oklahoma safety Robert Spears-Jennings, and Navy running back Eli Heidenreich.
- Our favorite local celebrity, Michael Keaton, announced some late-round picks.
How it works: The NFL calculates attendance using consistent methods across host cities. Visitors are typically counted each time they enter the draft campus, meaning those who leave and return can be counted multiple times.
- Green Bay, which drew 600,000 attendees over three days last year, reported an estimated 312,000 unique visitors, higher than Detroit's estimated 255,000 the year prior.
- The City of Green Bay argued that counting unique visitors each day provided a clearer measure for later economic impact studies, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.
The bottom line: Positive mentions of Pittsburgh flooded social media, especially from first-time visitors, and the city earned a bevy of national TV exposure, but some small businesses felt left out of the action.