“Green Bay may be small, but it’s mighty.” With the 2025 NFL Draft officially in the books, Green Bay pulled off a miracle. We’re talking about a city with just a little over 100,000 people that somehow packed in around 600,000 fans over three crazy days. Lambeau Field and the whole Titletown District basically turned into a football Disneyland—free Draft experience, autograph sessions, the Lombardi Trophy just chilling out for pics. And get this, the draft is expected to generate $90 million in Wisconsin and $20 million locally.

But the interesting part? Green Bay didn’t do it alone. Hotels ran out in a blink (we’re talking just 4,300 hotel rooms), so fans were crashing in Milwaukee, Madison, and even Sheboygan. The Packers, along with Discover Green Bay, had been laying the groundwork since 2014, attending drafts in other cities to learn the ropes.

And the way things turned out, their preparation paid off, considering the event hosted over 600,000 fans, more than the city’s population. With that being said, Green Bay hands off the NFL draft to Pittsburgh, who are now set to host next year’s draft in Steelers hometown. And let’s clarify one thing: Pittsburgh will host the event for the first time, and the owner, Art Rooney II, expects to surpass Green Bay in attendance.

While speaking to the Steelers Nation Radio, Rooney thinks that over 600K fans attending the event are just rookie numbers. “I have been watching, observing where they’re putting everybody,” Rooney said about Pittsburgh hosting the draft in 2026. “And I have to say, I think we’ll have a lot more people than they had in Green Bay. They’ll be coming from all over.”

Well, if we believe the reports, the three-day event broke Music City’s three-day attendance record of 600,000, set in 2019, when Nashville attracted huge numbers of fans. The Steelers’ hometown has that bar to clear now. And if they somehow pack in more than 775,000 people in 2026, they’re not just beating Detroit’s record (in the 2024 NFL draft)—they’re straight-up making history.

While Pittsburgh is still finalizing the venues for next year’s draft, many believe 2026 could be a big draft for them. Why? Well, even though they’ve drafted Will Howard in the sixth round, the search for a franchise QB is still going on. Now, folks out there believe that the Steelers would want to draft their franchise quarterback on their home soil.

Sure, Art Rooney II and Co. want to host the event, considering it’ll provide a revenue stream. But if Steelers Nation believes they are getting Arch Manning in 2026, they’re surely rushing to Pittsburgh to witness history. After all, the Steelers are still looking to find a franchise QB.

How will Art Rooney II and Co. present their city to millions of viewers?

The 2025 NFL draft in Green Bay was a success. But now that all eyes have shifted toward Pittsburgh, the stakes are too high, considering Pittsburgh is a larger city compared to Green Bay, and is expected to host between 500,000 and 1 million attendees. To guarantee a successful event in 2026, a delegation of about 20 Pittsburgh representatives carefully watched and learn how to present the following year’s event to millions of people.

For that, the city’s representative discussed the city’s downtown. Pittsburgh is spending around $600 million to renovate Downtown (also known as The Golden Triangle) and other areas. That includes Art Landing (an outdoor entertainment venue coming to Eighth Street), a revamped Market Square, and Improvements to Point State Park. And folks, Pittsburgh will wrap it all up just in time to host the 2026 NFL Draft.

“We’re going to open up Arts Landing,” said Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership CEO Jeremy Waldrup. “We’re going to open up a redeveloped Market Square. [There’s] some investment in Point State Park. Those things are all happening, and April will be the first time that anybody’s seen it—ourselves included.” See it this way: the stakes and market to host the NFL draft is too high.

Green Bay expects to generate $90 million across Wisconsin and $20 million locally in 2025. Not a fancy number, no doubt. But if we look at last year’s draft in Detroit, a market comparable to Pittsburgh in size. Detroit generated about $213 million in the city and the surrounding region, including $161 million in visitors’ direct spending.

There you go. By hosting the following year’s draft, Art Rooney and Co. are not just planning to surpass Green Bay in total attendees. Oh no. They’ve got their sight on market potential as well. And if they manage to draft a franchise QB—it’s cherry on the cake. Plain and simple.