NFL Draft Prospects Continue To Decline To Attend The Event As Appearances Lose Luster
Big crowds are the league’s goal, even if fewer players show up in person.
Since the NFL decided to stop holding the draft in New York City, fewer and fewer prospects are choosing to attend the event in person. In 2015, the league started staging the NFL Draft in locations that are unlikely to ever host a Super Bowl due to their climates, like Cleveland, Kansas City and Green Bay.
For the 2026 NFL Draft, the league picked Pittsburgh's Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field, which was a much better name, by the way) and surrounding areas, like Point State Park, as the hosting venue. As someone who grew up about 125 miles from Pittsburgh, it's a pretty good city. There's a strong passion for the city's sports teams, and it has an excellent blue-collar vibe.
The 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh will feature only 16 prospects in person as top pick Fernando Mendoza stays home and the league leans further into a fan-first festival.
(Ethan Morrison / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
But it's not exactly a glamorous destination for 21- to 25-year-old NFL Draft prospects. Radio City Music Hall in New York City was such a classic venue and there was something about standing on the same stage as some of the best players in league history. There was also a strong in-person contingent when the league held the draft in Las Vegas, but I don't think I have to explain why that might have been the case.
The number of prospects confirmed to attend this year (16) is one fewer than last year in Green Bay and both fall well short of the heyday of the NFL Draft. And the absence of the Heisman Trophy and National Championship-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick, is quite notable.
Interestingly, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson plans to attend.
Pittsburgh’s 16 Attendees And What The NFL Prioritizes Now
Other names include Texas Tech LB David Bailey, Miami (Fla.) DE Rueben Bain Jr., LSU DB Mansoor Delane, Ohio State DB Caleb Downs, Auburn DE Keldric Faulk, Tennessee DB Colton Hood, USC WR Makai Lemon, Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love, Miami (Fla.) OL Francis Mauigoa, Ohio State DT Kayden McDonald, Alabama T Kadyn Proctor, Ohio State LB Arvell Reese, Ohio State LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State WR Carnell Tate, and Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson.
Five of the 16 attendees played at Ohio State, which is about a three-hour drive from Pittsburgh. Also, it'll be interesting to see if Bain will attend after the story of a fatal 2024 car crash in which he was the driver surfaced over the weekend. While Bain saw the reckless driving citation dismissed, it's possible the distraction could alter his draft night plans.
Traveling to Kansas City, Cleveland or Detroit isn't much of a destination for a 20-something-year-old just to hear his name called. But the league has made its position clear: it views the draft as an event to draw hundreds of thousands of fans, and if that means sacrificing some prospects attending, then so be it. They want a "musical festival" atmosphere, and the best places to achieve that goal include cities that don't often get to host major events.
And appeasing its fans is the only thing the NFL cares about at this point. Really, that's all they should care about. They abandoned the fans with overt political messaging a few years ago, and it was a disaster. No surprise there.
They've slowly been trying to build it back up, and heading to cities in middle America is a nod to football fans. Coastal elites aren't the ones packing NFL stadiums on Sundays. And they aren't the ones flocking to the NFL Draft. They do show up for the Super Bowl, which has become more of a corporate event for elites than a football game for average fans.
But that's who makes up the majority of the NFL audience: hard-working middle Americans. And you better believe that's who's going to show up in Pittsburgh on April 23.