PA Gov Shapiro says Pittsburgh is ready for April's NFL Draft

With less than one month until the National Football League’s Draft heading to Pittsburgh, Gov. Josh Shapiro expressed his excitement to showcase the Steel City and the Keystone State to football fans across the country.

“Man, I'm so pumped,” Shapiro said during a press conference in Pittsburgh on Monday about a state tax credit program. “It's going to be unbelievable.”

The NFL Draft, which will take place from April 23-25, is expected to draw nearly 500,000 to 700,000 attendees, according to VisitPittsburgh.

Shapiro said he, along with Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney II and others, worked hard to bring the NFL draft to Pittsburgh. The governor believes that the multi-day event will “do a lot of good in the community.”

PublicSource reports that local government and a publicly funded nonprofit plan to direct nearly $19 million towards the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, while hoping it generates at least $120 million in economic impact for the region.

VisitPittsburgh is more optimistic, estimating that the draft will generate between $120 million and $213 million for the area.

“I want the public to know we are ready and we are prepared,” Shapiro said. “We're working closely with our law enforcement partners at every level: local, state and federal, to ensure that everyone has a safe time and a fun time, and I will tell you that the collaboration at every level of government has been absolutely outstanding.”

"We're also going to have an opportunity here to showcase Pennsylvania for tourists,” he continued. “We want them to come and have a great time at the draft. We also want them to come back and we want them to enjoy all that Pennsylvania has to offer."

Preparations are already being made at the local level for the draft.

CBS Pittsburgh reports that the first of six phases of road closures around Acrisure Stadium is already in effect. Pittsburgh Regional Transit, PRT, and Sheetz also announced a partnership to make all fares free on the T from April 23-25, which includes the red, blue, and silver lines, as well as on the Monongahela Incline. The Butler Transit Authority also announced its service plans for the draft.

Pittsburgh Public Schools have also already announced that they will operate remotely April 22-24 as the city prepares for the influx of people visiting the city for the draft.

Although next month will be the first time Pittsburgh has hosted an NFL Draft since 1947, football fans across the nation in 2017 flocked to Philadelphia for the draft.

A report commissioned by the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and conducted by Temple University’s Sports Industry Research Center said the draft attracted a then-record crowd of 250,000 attendees from 42 states, as the economic impact for the 2017 draft in Philadelphia was almost $95 million.

The 2017 draft in Philadelphia along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway was also the first time a host city held the draft outside.

The NFL Draft will be the first in a year of several major sporting events taking place in the Keystone State.

The PGA Championship will be held at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, in the suburbs of Philadelphia, in May.

Starting in June, six FIFA World Cup games will take place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, although Shapiro announced last week that Reading, Scranton, and Pittsburgh will also host free watch parties of the games in “FIFA World Cup Fan Zones.”

And in July, the MLB All-Star Game and Home Run Derby will head to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.