There might not be any love lost on the football field between the black and gold and the green and gold.
But, for several days last week, Green Bay Packers backers went the extra yard to give Pittsburgh Steelers supporters advice on how to host the perfect NFL Draft.
A Pittsburgh-area contingent of officials flew to Green Bay, Wis., to soak up everything they could from the league’s smallest market. Green Bay put on the NFL’s marquee off-season event Thursday through Saturday.
Next year, it’s Pittsburgh’s turn.
Leading the way was Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato. Stepping off a Delta flight Thursday in Green Bay, the passengers were greeted by a welcoming committee waving pompoms and serving up Wisconsin’s signature squeaky cheese curds at a tailgate-style party.
Innamorato was delighted. She loved how Green Bay immediately showcased its unique charm to throngs of football fans arriving for the 2025 draft.
She made a mental note to do something similar next April for visitors touching down at Pittsburgh International Airport to attend the event in Pittsburgh, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people.
“It’s not cheese curds — maybe it’s pierogies,” she quipped.
Innamorato on Friday morning talked to TribLive while standing on the draft stage, looking out at the sprawling space where an estimated 205,000 enthusiastic fans had cheered on their teams’ top picks the night before. The crowd had become so big for the first night that officials had to pause admissions.
Innamorato was one of about 20 people from the Pittsburgh area who embarked on the fact-finding mission to Titletown.
Hoping to take a page or two from Green Bay’s playbook, Innamorato and her colleagues sought to better understand the logistics of pulling off such a mammoth undertaking. They also looked for sparks of inspiration to create unique fan experiences in the heart of Steelers Nation.
Much like Green Bay, Pittsburgh is expecting to draw massive crowds, with some upper-end estimates suggesting nearly a million fans could descend on the City of Champions.
The Pittsburgh team said some of what they’re seeing in Wisconsin will translate easily into lessons for the Steel City.
Officials noted approvingly, for instance, how Green Bay clearly marked areas for rideshare drop-offs and provided wayfinding signage to help people find Lambeau Field.
They plan to replicate those ideas next year in Pittsburgh.
But they also recognize Pittsburgh will face unique challenges not seen in Green Bay, a city about a third its size with just over 100,000 people.
Pittsburgh’s draft footprint will be divided by the Allegheny River, with events occurring on the North Shore as well as at Point State Park. That’s a topographical hurdle Green Bay didn’t have to clear.
Public transit in question
One major problem Pittsburgh is likely to face is a massively scaled-back public transportation system, said Adam Brandolph, a spokesperson for Pittsburgh Regional Transit.
The transit authority is bracing for major cuts and urging the state to provide about $117 million to fill its gaping budget deficit.
Without a hefty cash infusion, the authority intends to eliminate routes after 11 p.m. and drastically limit operations during the day. Those curbs would be in effect during the draft, Brandolph told TribLive on Friday.
“I don’t know if I can imagine an event of that scale without additional PRT service,” he said, adding that the draft’s needs pale in comparison to concerns about how people will go to work and school every day with widespread cuts.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit officials have been involved in conversations with the NFL and local leaders coordinating the draft, but there are currently no plans to fund increased public transit services for draft weekend, Brandolph said. The transit authority did not send any representatives to Green Bay.
Jake Pawlak, who heads Pittsburgh’s Office of Management and Budget and serves as one of Mayor Ed Gainey’s top advisers, said parking and transportation plans were on his mind as he toured Green Bay on Wednesday, the day before the three-day extravaganza kicked off.
Most of the parking near Acrisure Stadium will be used for the draft stage and related activities. Pawlak said he was contemplating ways the city could move people across rivers and throughout the city using public transit and perhaps special shuttle buses brought in specifically for the event.
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Peering behind the curtain
Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said attending Green Bay’s event gave him a clearer picture of how the NFL handles its private security within the draft footprint, manages crowds and traffic and coordinates with first responders.
The league, Schmidt said, hired a massive private security presence, representing at least double the local law enforcement on scene. He said he could not provide police staffing figures from Green Bay or staffing plans for Pittsburgh, which has fewer than 800 police officers.
Already, Schmidt said, city police are coordinating with Allegheny County Police and the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police and state park rangers.
Neither he nor Pawlak had any additional security details to release.
For Pawlak, the Green Bay trip included a mix of tours to give him a “behind-the-curtain look at the operation” and more casual experiences to get a sense of how fans take in the festivities.
Jerad Bachar, president of tourism agency Visit Pittsburgh, marveled at the “city festival” experience Green Bay crafted.
A Touchdown Downtown campaign brought bandstands and food vendors to a riverside park so people could partake in festivities beyond the draft itself.
It seemed that everywhere the Pittsburgh delegation looked, they found another unique way Green Bay’s residents and businesses were promoting the draft or their city.
As Bachar talked to TribLive on Thursday, he was briefly interrupted by a passing walking tour whose guide regaled visitors with stories of the city’s history.
‘Endless’ opportunities
Innamorato watched someone on the street recite a speech by the legendary and highly quotable former Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi.
She found vintage shops that curated collections of classic NFL memorabilia. Baristas at local coffee shops donned green Packers attire.
And the cheese curds that greeted visitors at the airport kept popping up everywhere, said David Morehouse, executive vice president for strategy with the Steelers.
“They have cheese curds on hamburgers. They have cheese curds on drinks,” Morehouse said. “They’re not called cheeseheads without reason.”
In a nod to a tradition of Packers players biking to practice during training camp, Green Bay hosted a bike parade for kids.
The city and state are known for their “supper clubs,” social dining experiences with a club-like atmosphere. They inspired the theme of a fundraiser dinner featuring unique tastes of Wisconsin, Morehouse said.
Morehouse wants to launch a similar fundraiser in Pittsburgh next year, featuring the city’s cuisine and breweries and raising money for local youth programs.
“The opportunities are endless,” Bachar said. “We’re really excited to bring this to Pittsburgh.”
Eyeing long-term gains
Bachar visited Kansas City and Detroit to watch the 2023 and 2024 drafts, respectively. Pittsburgh was bidding to host the 2026 draft at the time.
“There’s a very specific playbook the NFL follows to deliver the draft itself. The fundamentals are very consistent,” Bachar said. “But what’s unique about each one of them is they all bring their own look and feel to the draft.”
He envisions Pittsburgh’s draft as a black-and-gold affair that showcases homegrown artists like Andy Warhol, highlights the city’s transformation from steel city to tech hub and encourages people to explore Pittsburgh’s unique neighborhoods.
Bachar pitched the idea of imitating the type of history walking tour he had just seen winding its way through the streets of Green Bay. That’s the kind of idea he likes to pick up on when visiting other cities.
While much of the focus will undoubtedly be on football and fun, Morehouse said he wants to leverage the draft for long-term gain, too.
He took note of Green Bay’s efforts to bring in representatives from large companies and developers, encouraging them to set up headquarters or build new developments in the city.
“That’s one thing we saw here we hadn’t thought of before that we’ll probably bring back,” Morehouse said, suggesting Pittsburgh leaders could court new companies and developers by showing off ongoing upgrades to Downtown and leveraging the Pittsburgh pride he hopes the draft will elicit.
Official handoff
Future host cities typically send a delegation to the draft ahead of their own to better understand what to expect, Bachar said. Visit Pittsburgh tapped into its budget for draft-related expenses to fund the trip.
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The tourism agency is leading a local committee of government officials, business partners and others who are hosting the draft. Visit Pittsburgh compiles the information and plans everyone is pulling together, which helps ensure continuity, even if administrations change.
The county has seen new leadership installed since the region started the bid process, a change Pawlak said was “seamless.” With a tightly contested mayoral race in 2025 for Pittsburgh, it’s possible the city will see a leadership switch before the draft, too.
Though officials in Pittsburgh are already making preparations, the NFL likely won’t release specific details until early next year, Bachar said.
The league controls much of the information released about its event, he said, and remains tight-lipped until close to the event for security reasons.
The Pittsburgh team on Saturday officially took the reins, as Green Bay passed a ceremonial football to the next host city.
Even before the official handoff, Innamorato was excited to imagine hundreds of thousands of football fans descending on Pittsburgh, visiting shops and restaurants, enjoying recreation on Pittsburgh’s three rivers and rooting for their favorite teams.
The energy during the first night of the Green Bay draft, she said, was contagious.
“I am not the biggest sports fan, but it’s really hard to not get super excited about what’s happening, about these players that are getting selected and going pro, to see how dedicated the fans are,” Innamorato said.
“They just get so hyped about it. You can’t help yourself. You’re like, ‘I’m hyped, too.’ It’s the power of sports and shared identity that really gets you excited.”