Thinking about heading to Pittsburgh this April for the NFL Draft? Well, you can now register for free tickets from the NFL by clicking here.
After 50 years of being held in New York City, the NFL started putting the Draft in NFL host cities in 2015. It started in Chicago, with a massive event in Grant Park for two consecutive years. Following that, it has set up shop in Philadelphia, Dallas, Nashville, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Detroit, and Green Bay. And the crowds have been unbelievable: an estimated 750,000 fans attended the event in Detroit, and 600,000 were on hand in Nashville and Green Bay. Organizers expect Pittsburgh to draw similar numbers.
This year’s event in Pittsburgh will take place from April 23-25 in multiple locations, including the area around Acrisure Stadium, as well as Point State Park in downtown Pittsburgh.
What does registering get you?
It gets you access to the NFL Draft Experience, which is the “family-friendly football festival” being held both outside of Acrisure Stadium and at Point State Park. There will be interactive games, exhibits, autograph sessions, and other events available. Anyone who registers will receive access to these events, and they are completely free.
What doesn’t registering get you?
Well … you don’t get an invite to the NFL Draft Theater, which is where the Draft proceedings actually take place. This area is, according to the NFL, “available only to invited ticket holders.” Fans will be able to access the “standing room only / theater viewing area”, but what that exactly means is unclear. But we’re pretty sure it means you’ll be watching the draft on a temporary jumbotron rather than directly seeing what’s happening on the stage.
Next Steps
We know the date and the location, and we know that tickets to the Draft Experience are free for all who register. So if that’s enough to make you want to attend, it’s a great time to book flights and hotels. Acrisure Stadium is just down the street from PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, so all of our travel, transit, and lodging advice for PNC Park will be the same for this event. You can check out our guide here.
To register for free tickets, click here. And for more info on the event itself, click here.
Doubleheader Digest
Unfortunately, there aren’t any other sporting events scheduled for draft weekend. The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road that weekend, although they will start a homestand on Monday, April 27, against the St. Louis Cardinals if you want to hang around for a few extra days (and if you haven’t been to PNC Park, it’s well worth hanging around for). But the USL’s Riverhounds won’t be at home.
The best chance you may have for a game during Draft weekend could be a Pittsburgh Penguins home playoff game. The team is currently in second place in the Metropolitan Division, and if that holds true, they would host a first-round playoff series (Games 1, 2, 5, and 7). There is a good chance that one of those games could overlap with the NFL Draft, so be sure to keep an eye on the NHL standings as the Draft approaches.
