Roughly a month after the conclusion of a very successful NFL Draft in Detroit, the city of Pittsburgh could possibly win a bid to host the draft in 2026.
"It looks good and we should find out next week," Art Rooney II said Friday, according to KDKA Radio host Michael Bartley.
NFL owners are reconvening May 20-22 for the annual spring meeting. The winning bid for the 2026 NFL Draft is expected to be decided during that time.
In February, the Steelers officially put in a bid for Pittsburgh to host the NFL Draft in 2026 or 2027. While in Orlando for the NFL annual meeting back in March, Rooney addressed local reporters and shared a sense of optimism that Pittsburgh would be awarded the draft in one of those years.
In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show during this year's draft, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that Pittsburgh is on the shortlist for the 2026 draft.
"They're in the mix, I'll tell you that," Goodell said. "So that may be coming soon.”
Goodell also added that there’s almost as much demand for the draft as there is for the Super Bowl because there are so many cities that can’t host the latter.
Being a cold-weather city, Pittsburgh would never host the Super Bowl. But, a bid for the draft is very likely, considering the Steelers being one of the league's marquee franchises. After all, Green Bay is hosting next year's draft and Detroit just hosted 775,000 people for this year's draft.
From what I heard during the NFL annual meeting, there is a lot of confidence within the organization that the Steelers will win their bid for either 2026 or 2027. Rooney's optimism isn't misplaced. But, you never know until it's ironclad.
