{"id":173473,"date":"2026-04-23T03:06:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T03:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/173473\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T03:06:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T03:06:30","slug":"pittsburgh-hosts-2026-nfl-draft-as-focus-shifts-to-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/173473\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh hosts 2026 NFL Draft as focus shifts to DC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PITTSBURGH, Pa. (7News) \u2014 As National Football League fans descended on <a href=\"https:\/\/wjla.com\/topic\/Pittsburgh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pittsburgh <\/a>for the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/wjla.com\/topic\/NFL%20draft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NFL Draft<\/a>, Commissioner Roger Goodell said planning is already ramping up for next year\u2019s event in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>RELATED |<a href=\"https:\/\/wjla.com\/news\/local\/nfl-draft-pittsburgh-2026-washington-dc-2027-muriel-bowser-roger-goodell-stage-commanders-stadium-plans-super-bowl-bid-planning-green-bay-comparison-event-logistics-mayor-interview-history-1948-harry-gilmer-redskins-sports-tourism-events-future-locations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Bowser eyes Super Bowl after NFL Draft<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Speaking in an exclusive interview with Scott Abraham of 7News, Goodell said preparations for the 2027 Draft in the Nation\u2019s Capital are already underway as organizers work through the logistics of hosting one of the league\u2019s largest annual events.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to plan, and we\u2019re probably going to have to start planning a little further out on a lot of fronts,\u201d Goodell said. \u201cEach one of these is different. The location is different, determining the right location, but making sure we do it correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The commissioner also praised the Washington Commanders&#8217; ownership group, led by owner Josh Harris, saying the relationship between the league and the franchise has strengthened in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe and his entire ownership group, they have a tremendous amount of pride and passion in what they\u2019re doing,\u201d Goodell said. \u201cThey have a very strong vision. I think we see that in the stadium. It screams Washington, and I think we\u2019re going to make everyone proud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Pittsburgh served as the backdrop for this year\u2019s draft festivities, anticipation is already building for next year\u2019s event, which is expected to take place on the National Mall with landmarks including the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument surrounding the draft stage.<\/p>\n<p>READ ALSO | <a href=\"https:\/\/wjla.com\/sports\/washington-commanders\/the-nfl-draft-is-the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-for-many-pittsburgh-is-a-fitting-host\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The NFL draft is the light at the end of the tunnel for many. Pittsburgh is a fitting host<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Organizers expect massive crowds for the 2027 event, which could draw close to 1 million visitors to the Nation\u2019s Capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH, Pa. (7News) \u2014 As National Football League fans descended on Pittsburgh for the 2026 NFL Draft, Commissioner&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-173473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-pittsburgh","9":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","10":"tag-pittsburgh-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}