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Pittsburgh City Council

Pittsburgh may break even on the Draft with officials betting on the long game.

Written by Amy Whipple

 Pittsburgh is looking for a pass to offset the cost of hosting the NFL Draft.

Council voted during its April 20 committee meeting to move forward with a $2 million grant from VisitPittsburgh. Acting Budget Director Rea Price said the money can only be used to reimburse approved expenses such as overtime for police officers and public works crews. Price said that the current estimate for overtime is approximately $1.8 million.

VisitPittsburgh has been responsible for organizing services and venues for the Draft. As part of its agreement with the city and county, both must route their services through the nonprofit tourism organization.

In 2024, the city agreed to provide $1 million toward expected expenses, split across three years. Council Member Deb Gross of Highland Park noted, however, that little of the expected revenue will go to the city itself. The city will only receive money from its parking tax while the county will take in hotel and liquor taxes. The county is distributing part of its share to VisitPittsburgh, the convention center and the Port Authority. Sales tax revenue generated by the event is dedicated for City and county parks, regional assets such as the zoo, and smaller municipalities.

Finance Director Jennifer Gula said the city might break even for event expenses. “I think something like this tends to have a longer-term impact than the actual something that happens over the course of four days. If it brings attention to the city, and we show them that we could put on a good party, it may end up translating later to some other events.” 

Connections to this story

Topics:
Economic DevelopmentCity Budget & Fiscal
Governments:
Pittsburgh City Council
Public meetings:
City Council · April 20, 2026
Sources:
Resolution 2026-0350 — amending resolution No. 662 of 2024, entitled "Resolution authorizing the Mayor and the Director of the Office of…

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Forward Township

Township will remain eligible for block grants.

Forward Township supervisors approved a resolution to opt into the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, keeping the township eligible to apply for federal funds for the next three years.