{"id":62313,"date":"2025-12-16T13:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T13:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/62313\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T13:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T13:11:10","slug":"one-wants-nfl-draft-visitors-to-experience-the-real-pittsburgh-pittsburgh-city-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/62313\/","title":{"rendered":"ONE wants NFL Draft visitors to experience the “real” Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh City Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Dec. 8, Pittsburghers got a significant look behind the curtain at planning for the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a>, taking place in the city from April 23-25, 2026.<\/p>\n

In a Downtown address<\/a> ahead of a closed-door meeting<\/a> for residents, representatives from the NFL and VisitPittsburgh, the county\u2019s tourism development organization, revealed several new details about the massive three-day event. The draft will span the North Shore and Downtown \u2014 marking the first time, according to NFL officials, that the event\u2019s footprint will cross a body of water.<\/p>\n

In addition to games and activities inside Acrisure Stadium, draft picks will be announced from a new soon-to-be-constructed Draft Theater in an adjacent North Shore parking lot, with a free fan festival, the NFL Draft Experience, to be held across the Allegheny River at Point State Park.<\/p>\n

The draft is projected to draw 500,000 to 700,000 visitors across three days, and has been consistently referred to<\/a> by city and state officials as the largest event ever hosted in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh City Paper spoke with Pittsburgh\u2019s Office of Nighttime Economy<\/a> (ONE) \u2014 which connects hospitality and nightlife businesses, community members and groups, and city government \u2014 to get an early overview of the logistics involved and current expectations heading into 2026.<\/p>\n

While the NFL Draft is being planned by a central local organizing committee, ONE, a two-person office<\/a> that includes nighttime economy manager Allison Harnden and nighttime economy coordinator Bret Kunash, sits on the Downtown and Ancillary Venues Committee, one of many subcommittees.<\/p>\n

Harnden and Kunash got their first experience with draft planning at a local watch party for last year\u2019s NFL Draft, held in Green Bay, Wis. The event was hosted by a South Side neighborhood organization at Mario\u2019s on East Carson Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like Jerry Maguire,\u201d Harnden jokes about her first impression.<\/p>\n

Mark Murphy, retired CEO of the Green Bay Packers, described the NFL Draft<\/a> as a \u201cthree-day commercial\u201d and economic boon for both the city and state, rivaled only by hosting a Super Bowl. (For a local point of comparison, Taylor Swift\u2019s Era Tour concerts at Acrisure Stadium in June 2023 drew 400,000 fans to the North Shore, brought 85,000 riders to Pittsburgh Regional Transit, and generated $46 million in direct spending, according to ONE.)<\/p>\n

While the spotlight is on the central NFL-branded event, \u201cfrom our standpoint, our role is to work with [local] businesses, to keep them informed, and also to [work with] the communities, the neighborhoods,\u201d Harnden says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody wants a piece of this pie,\u201d Harnden tells City Paper. \u201cAnd we\u2019re trying to figure out how they can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though diehard football fans might\u2019ve travelled anywhere to see the draft, \u201cI think we\u2019re kind of charged with highlighting the city, and in our heads, we\u2019re trying to think of it as a Pittsburgh-centric event,\u201d Kunash adds.<\/p>\n

ONE takes an asset-based approach<\/a> to community development, meaning they assess a community\u2019s existing skills and resources, then strategically highlight them (in contrast to emphasizing deficits or relying on external experts).<\/p>\n

On the Ancillary Venues subcommittee, members \u201cnaturally aligned themselves with projects in their wheelhouse,\u201d says Harnden. Their collective focus is activating venues not within the draft\u2019s footprint, particularly during \u201cun-programmed\u201d times, like the evening before the event starts.<\/p>\n

Harnden says we can expect programming and arts events from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, the August Wilson African American Cultural Center<\/a>, as well site-specific happenings at the newly renovated Market Square or Arts Landing<\/a>. Businesses atop Mt. Washington or on the South Shore, including the recently opened Distillery Complex<\/a>, are hoping to capitalize on city views.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor our businesses here, it\u2019s [also] managing expectations of how far out the economic boon is going to be,\u201d Harnden says. \u201cThen asking, how do you staff? How do you order your goods? What hours do you stay open?\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of ONE\u2019s work so far has been helping local businesses apply to become NFL Draft contractors through its Source Program<\/a>, which solicits vendors ranging from food and beverage to audiovisual event support to janitorial services.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of small businesses have never done a procurement process,\u201d Harnden explains.<\/p>\n

A day after the NFL town hall, on Dec. 9, nearly 160 businesses from 10 counties surrounding Pittsburgh were invited to explore NFL contract opportunities, convening for the first time<\/a> at CCAC\u2019s North Campus.<\/p>\n

Changes overhauling and modernizing<\/a> the city\u2019s mobile vending program<\/a> were also a year in the making, says Harnden, and represent the less obvious considerations made by the Ancillary subcommittee. ONE looked to other cities\u2019 examples in order to streamline food vendor licensing, remove the \u201cfour-hour\u201d rule<\/a> requiring food trucks to change locations, and create group vending sites ahead of the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

Another framework through which to view the draft, says Harnden, is considering it as Pittsburgh\u2019s first \u201cmega-event.\u201d<\/p>\n

A term first coined in the hospitality industry in\u00a0the late 1980s, a mega-event<\/a> is a massive, temporary gathering that draws large crowds, global media, and significant investment, often causing major social and physical transformations at the host location. While mega-events can bring significant economic investment and urban renewal, they can also exacerbate gentrification, displacement, and an inequitable distribution of resources.<\/p>\n

The Olympics is the prototypical mega-event, Harnden says (and one might look to Beijing\u2019s abandoned Olympic venues<\/a> as an example of a negative consequence).<\/p>\n

Mega-events such as World\u2019s Fairs or Expos or the World Cup are generally more common internationally, but a full slate is coming to Pennsylvania next year. In 2026, alongside other North American cities<\/a>, Philadelphia will host a FIFA World Cup game, as well as an America250 event celebrating the nation\u2019s Semiquincentennial. Serving as the president of the Nighttime Economy Culture and Policy (NITECAP) Alliance, Harnden has made connections with peers in other countries, including Belfast officials planning Fleadh<\/a>, an eight-day music festival expected to draw one million people, in preparation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re physically changing the city as we speak,\u201d Kunash tells CP. \u201cWhich I think will probably look great. But how do you keep Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, or highlight Pittsburgh? \u2026 How can we incorporate the ancillary, the people \u2018outside,\u2019 the real Pittsburgh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[To me], that\u2019s art and music and sports and film and food,\u201d Kunash says. \u201cAnd I think one of the ways is just highlighting the independent artists. It\u2019s a good question, and I think we\u2019re actively trying to do it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

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