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By Michael Gallagher
Sports Content Coordinator
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The city of Pittsburgh showed out in impressive fashion during the 2026 NFL draft.
With the draft coming to an end on Saturday with the Denver Broncos selection of Buffalo linebacker Red Murdock with the 257th overall pick, the NFL released the final attendance numbers for the three-day event at Acrisure Stadium — and Pittsburgh had a record-breaking showing.
“Pittsburgh set a new @NFLDraft attendance record with 805,000 people over 3 days 👏,” the NFL announced on X.
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“None of us would be able to say that we projected this,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said prior to the start of this year’s draft. “I will say, though, we felt strongly that taking it to the fans, taking it to these communities, that something magical would happen. But to see this kind of reaction, people have been talking about this in Pittsburgh for almost a year.”
Pittsburgh surpassed the old record of 775,000 set by Detroit back in 2024.
Pittsburgh set a record for highest Round 1 attendance with 320,000 people. More than 600,000 people attended the first two days, which would’ve tied it for the third-most attended draft with Nashville (2019) and Green Bay (2025).
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Goodell praised the city of Pittsburgh throughout the week in the lead up to the draft, stating the league was proud to showcase the community and Steelers fans.
“(The 2026 draft) will, more importantly, be a platform for everyone to see the wonderful things that are happening here in this community,” Goodell stated. “The history and tradition of some of the players that came from this community.
“… That’s what it’s about, is celebrating football. For this draft, it’s a Pittsburgh draft, and that’s what we want, to demonstrate and show the passion of our communities.”
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