(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Visit Pittsburgh)
(Reported by Danielle Smith, Keystone News Service, Note and Credit for Story: This story was produced with original reporting from Anna Gustafson from the Pennsylvania Independent)
(Pittsburgh, PA) Pennsylvania is hosting some of the most well-known sporting events in the world, and the state expects to draw about 2-million spectators throughout the summer. This week, the N-F-L Draft is in Pittsburgh, the largest event the city has ever hosted, with 700-thousand people expected to attend the three-day whirlwind of football, food, art and music. Anne Ryan, deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Office of Tourism, says the Philadelphia area is likely to draw about a million people between the P-G-A Championship in May, six FIFA World Cup matches in June and July, and M-L-B All-Star Week – also in July. She adds that each event is expected to bring millions of dollars to the local economy. Ryan points out hotel rooms are expected to sell out in Pittsburgh, and visitors are booking rooms in the surrounding area for the draft. The FIFA World Cup fan festival in Philadelphia will include 75 local food trucks and a “vendor village” for the duration of the tournament, and World Cup games will draw people to watch parties in Scranton and Reading. yan adds that planning the events didn’t happen overnight. Local and state officials have been working for years toward securing them. Tourism leaders in Pittsburgh, home of the Steelers, were eyeing the N-F-L Draft for about a decade, and Governor Josh Shapiro made an aggressive push for the event in 2023. Ryan adds that Pittsburgh has done an incredible amount of work to get ready for the draft. She points out Market Square, often referred to as the heart of downtown Pittsburgh and a major hub of entertainment, restaurants and civic life, is undergoing a 15-million-dollar renovation, with a grand opening happening today. Philadelphia has also invested millions of dollars in beautification projects to prepare for its events.