The 2026 NFL Draft is one month away and the city of Pittsburgh will be hosting the event. It will be one of the largest events in recent memory for the city and the city is preparing accordingly.
According to WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh's public schools will be closing from Wednesday, April 22 through Friday, April 24 due in large part to the influx of over 500,000 anticipated visitors to the city messing with the infrastructure. Students will take part in remote learning during that period.
Superintendent Wayne Walters explained that the massive influx of visitors poses challenges to public school accessibility, transportation and even safety.
“We know it’s not ideal, but it is a reality of a city hosting a big event where we’re expecting about 500,000-700,000 visitors into our city, and it will completely create sort of (an) exciting time, but also some challenging times when we think about accessibility, transportation, and safety,” Walters said.
The Draft in Pittsburgh
Once exclusive to New York City, the NFL Draft has become a touring event each year, reaching the biggest cities in America for the biggest offseason event of the year. Over the three-day period we have seen as many as one million people come and go from the stage where the future of the NFL gets assigned to their teams.
Pittsburgh, which has never hosted a Super Bowl despite sharing the record for the most Lombardi Trophies on display, was selected to host this year's draft and the football-loving city is ready to roll out the red carpet for the event.
The Las Vegas Raiders currently hold the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, followed by the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans and New York Giants to round out the top five.
As for the hometown Pittsburgh Steelers, fans will have plenty of time to take bathroom breaks or even show up late since the team doesn't pick until No. 21 overall.
