Pittsburgh City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to pay $1 million to VisitPittsburgh in preparation for the 2026 NFL Draft.
The money will go towards coordinating municipal, governmental, and other services in the region outside of the immediate footprint of the draft event, and represents Pittsburgh’s slice of funding into a pool meant to support the large-scale, three-day celebration.
The City of Pittsburgh is one entity involved in the planning of the draft, and joins the county, VisitPittsburgh and a corporate coalition in putting money on the table as part of the host committee. The city’s $1 million contributes to the $11 million collective fund.
Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said the move is part of showing the city has “skin in the game.” He, the city’s Chief Financial Officer Patrick Cornell, and VisitPittsburgh President and CEO Jerad Bachar all spoke about some of the specifics of the deal at the council meeting.
Many of the specifics about the draft have not yet been pinned down, but Bachar clarified that the NFL takes on the “lion’s share” of the responsibility and cost to organize the event. The City of Pittsburgh’s $1 million joins $2 million from VisitPittsburgh, $3 million from the county, and $5 million from the corporate community in the collective pool that will be used to support the draft experience on the ground.
Nearly 800,000 attended the last draft event in Detroit. Bachar said the draft could bring in more than triple the amount of people that Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour brought into town last year.
The money will help support projects in public works, street beautification and public safety, as well as marketing surrounding the draft, Bachar said. The host committee will be working to get visitors from the draft out into the various surrounding communities in order to spread the economic benefit around the region.
“It is well known that Pittsburgh is a football city. That doesn't guarantee that we're going to get 300 or 400 — even up to 700,000 people here,” he said. “So we have to set out a year in advance to make sure that we're promoting the NFL draft here in Pittsburgh.”
Council opinions
Some council members had previously raised concerns about the proposal, though all councilors, with the exception of Theresa Kail-Smith, who was absent, voted for it on Wednesday.
During the nearly hour-long discussion, Councilor Anthony Coghill criticized the Gainey administration for not communicating with council more about the deal, but said he was committed to the Steelers to vote for the deal if voting it down would be disruptive to bringing the draft to Pittsburgh.
“When you have a mega, mega company like the NFL throwing an event in our city, the biggest one we’ll have ever attracted, they don't want to hear it. They don't want to hear about infighting with government,” he said. “We're at this point because we weren't informed, and I'm not fighting about it anymore.”
Coghill said the administration and Pawlak’s lack of communication with council about such a commitment was “irresponsible” and “unacceptable.” He added that he would like to have further discussions about how the money will be distributed and for the administration to look for various money sources to recoup the investment.
Following discussion, Councilor Bob Charland voted in favor of the bill, and said he wants to make sure local businesses benefit from the event. But he also did not hold back criticism of the administration’s communication around the deal.
“I 'm really not happy with the lack of communication, the lack of preparation coming from the mayor's office,” he said. “I don't understand what we need to do to get you to pick up a phone and call council…I hope that you can do better.”
Councilor Erika Strassburger noted that she hopes the $1 million contributes to projects that are long-lasting and impactful in the city even after the draft is over.
Councilor Khari Mosley expressed optimism about how hosting the NFL draft might help showcase the city.
“I think it's a transformative event that can really reintroduce the Pittsburgh region to the world and have benefits that go on for decades beyond 2026,” he said.
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