NFL Draft opens to packed crowds and bright skies

Early arrivals, great weather and seamless transit set the tone for a blockbuster first day.

By JUSTIN VELLUCCI
TribLive

The 2026 NFL Draft turned the eyes of the world toward Pittsburgh Thursday — and the City of Champions did not disappoint.

Thousands of football fans filled Point State Park and packed the draft’s massive footprint in the city’s North Shore neighborhood Thursday. They were greeted with unseasonably warm temperatures, a sea of blackand- gold jerseys and a surprising lack of local traffic.

The draft didn’t officially open its first day of festivities until noon. But don’t tell that to the Steelers fans. Lines thick with Pittsburgh sports aficionados started forming outside Point State Park and around Acrisure Stadium not long after dawn.

By 9 a.m., crowds cluttered in city streets that police had blocked off for pedestrians. Draft enthusiasts — the vast majority of them donning Steelers jerseys and related gear — snapped selfies around iconic city locations like the Point State Park fountain and the Roberto Clemente Bridge.

A full eight hours before any of the NFL’s 32 teams announced a single draft pick, revelers already were reserving spots around the mammoth stage constructed on the eastern side of Acrisure Stadium.

An NFL spokeswoman said no Day 1 attendance estimates were available.

How about the weather?

The weather cooperated with draft planners Thursday.

While the National Weather Service officially recorded the afternoon as “partly cloudy,” the sun was vibrant in much of the city — and hot.

Mercury readings in Downtown Pittsburgh topped out at 79 degrees Thursday afternoon, meteorologist Andrew Kienzle said. That’s roughly 15 degrees above Pittsburgh’s average late-April highs.

It’s only getting hotter. On Friday, temperatures could reach 83 degrees in Point State Park, Kienzle said.

And that rain people heard about Saturday? Not so much.

Most of the rain — about a quarter- inch — is expected to fall between midnight and 9 a.m. Saturday. After that — when the draft kicks off its third and final day — the highest chance of rain lingers around 40%, Kienzle said.

Meteorologists in the National Weather Service’s Moon offices would not provide details on how much the NFL had paid for the good weather.

“We have no comment,” Kienzle said, with a laugh.

Fan experience

Cooper Keener, 17, of Fairmont, W.Va., drove about 90 minutes to take in the draft with his grandfather.

He arrived on the North Shore at 6:30 a.m. to check out the NFL Draft Experience setup.

“It’ll probably be the only time I’ll be able to come in my lifetime,” Keener said.

Keener anticipated long lines and crowds. He wasn’t deterred.

“It’ll be a great experience,” he said.

Tony Morano, 50, paused to snap a photo of the picturesque view from the Roberto Clemente Bridge around 7 a.m. He marveled at the view of PNC Park and the rivers.

“Gorgeous, this is great scenery,” Morano said.

He drove about five hours from Windsor, Canada, on Wednesday evening.

No gridlock

Traffic on Pittsburgh-area roads was fairly light for much of the draft’s first day.

A multi-vehicle crash involving a school bus shuttered McKnight Road in Ross around 9 a.m. No injuries were reported and the bus was not carrying any students. The road was open within an hour.

Pennsylvania State Police reported few problems on the main arteries leading into Pittsburgh.

“Traffic inbound has been flowing at a good rate,” Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said around 6:30 p.m. “Fort Pitt Tunnels and the bridge have been at a good flow rate for most of the day.”

The 511PA website, where state officials log gridlock, car crashes and other traffic chokepoints, was quiet as NFL squads prepared to make their first picks Thursday.

The main incident in the City of Pittsburgh? Around 5:30 p.m., a motorist stopped a disabled vehicle on Interstate 376 westbound near Downtown Pittsburgh. No traffic delays were reported.

Interstate and international travel did hit some turbulence, though.

Pittsburgh International Airport had delayed or canceled about onethird of the 81 flights logged online around 7 p.m. Airport officials have said they can’t provide passenger data until the end of the month.

Visitors and locals appeared to be heavily using public transit to get around Thursday, according to Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

About 70% of park-and-ride lot spaces were full around 7 p.m. and lots in Monroeville had filled as early as 10:30 a.m., Adam Brandolph, a spokesman for the transit agency, said.

“Our Football Flyers — I don’t want to jinx anything — but they’ve been an extreme success,” Brandolph said. “I don’t think we would have been able to handle all these people coming into the city without those Football Flyers going in and out every 15 minutes.”

“We are cautiously optimistic that things will continue to go well,” he added.

Data about the number of people using public transit in Pittsburgh will not be available until after the draft, Brandolph said.

Great vibes

Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor started his day in the city’s North Shore around 10:30 a.m. by greeting draft attendees and out-oftowners.

One family of rabid Steelers fans — two parents, six kids — drove 17 hours straight from Florida to catch the three-day event, said Molly Onufer, O’Connor’s spokeswoman.

The mayor visited Market Square and Arts Landing, the new Downtown green space and performance area, and also made a pit stop to talk with out-of-town diners at Strip District staple Kelly O’s.

“We turned the sun on for you guys,” he frequently quipped, Onufer said.

Little information was available about crime — inside the draft footprint or beyond it — Thursday.

Neither Pittsburgh police nor Allegheny County Police posted any arrest data to social media, as of 7 p.m. Pittsburgh police also did not respond to phone calls or emails seeking comment.

State police said troopers had not been involved in any medical emergencies, as of 6 p.m.

Some people already have their eyes on Friday.

O’Connor is set to take the main stage on Day 2 of the draft to symbolically hand off the event crown to officials from Washington, D.C., which is set to host the event in 2027.

“You know, our teams have had a lot of time to think about and plan for this,” Onufer told TribLive. “There’s just been really great vibes today.”

Staff writer Julia Burdelski contributed to this report.