'Good chaos': North Shore businesses gear up for Pittsburgh’s 2026 NFL Draft

As Pittsburgh prepares to host the 2026 NFL Draft on the North Shore, local business owners are gearing up for crowds — and trying to figure out where everyone will park.

The three-day event, April 23-25, 2026, is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans, and will turn the North Shore into the city’s busiest zone. For nearby businesses, that means balancing opportunity with logistical challenges.

Arlan Hess, owner of City Books, Pittsburgh’s oldest bookseller, said she’s ready for the crowds the NFL Draft will bring, but admits she hadn’t given much thought to where all those visitors will park.

“There’s always parking on Steeler game days,” Hess said. “I don’t know if there’s any way to prepare for [the draft] other than making sure I’ve got a lot of inventory here.”

The event will overlap with National Independent Bookstore Day, one of the busiest weekends of the year for City Books.

“I’m trying to control the expectation differential,” Hess said.  

Hess said she expects a lot of people to choose walking over driving around.  

“It’s exciting for the city to be on a stage like that,” Hess said.  

At Modern Cafe, a staple for pre-game crowds, manager Christian Roberts said the North Shore will likely resemble a typical football weekend with packed lots, tight street parking and plenty of people stopping in for a beer before heading to the event.

Roberts said some local businesses are planning to just close if they can’t keep up with the crowds.  

Lena Laskaris, owner of Wise County Biscuits, expects her regulars to avoid the North Side during the draft, leaving room for new faces — especially Airbnb guests in the area.

“Parking should be okay overall,” Laskaris said, “but I think a lot of people will just walk once they’re here.”

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For Kelly Diegelman, owner of Max’s Allegheny Tavern, parking isn’t a major concern.  

“A few years back, we offered a shuttle for Steelers fans heading over to the stadium,” she said. Although, there are no plans for added transportation like that yet.  

Even without official plans in place, business owners say they’re focused on being ready for the surge in visitors, whether they’re arriving by car or on foot.

“It’ll probably be chaos,” Hess said, “but good chaos.”

Adam Brandolph, deputy chief communications officer for Pittsburgh Regional Transit, said the company is on a transportation planning subcommittee but has not finalized any service additions or changes.

“We don’t know a whole lot at this point, and when we know more, we certainly want to be able to provide that information to our riders as early as possible,” Brandolph said.  

VisitPittsburgh, the tourism agency leading the charge on draft preparation, could not confirm what and how many subcommittees there are but said they were created at the request of the NFL.

“The local subcommittees were created to serve as liaisons with the League, helping to bring their plans to life here in Pittsburgh. Each group functions as a local point of contact and resource to support the NFL’s overall vision,” Emily Hatfield, vice president of marketing & communications for VisitPittsburgh, said in a statement by email. “All work rolls up to the larger Pittsburgh Organizing Committee, which is working diligently on coordination and planning efforts in conjunction with the NFL.”

City councilwoman Barb Warwick, chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, said she has no updates currently on the committee’s involvement with the event.

Cutline for header image:

Modern Cafe sits on the corner of Galveston Avenue and Western Avenue on Pittsburgh’s North Side Oct. 24, 2025. Photograph by Kyle Ferreira.

‍Michelangelo Pellis is an intern with the newsroom for the fall semester. He is a fourth-year digital journalism major at Point Park University. He has served as news editor of The Globe, the university’s student-run newspaper, and as editor of the Point Park News Service. He can be reached at mpelli@pointpark.edu.

Kyle Ferreira is an intern with the newsroom for the fall semester. He is a journalist and photographer with experience in both print and visual storytelling. Writing for the Communiqué, the student-run newspaper at Chatham University

Staff writer Erin Yudt contributed to this report. Erin most recently was a multimedia content producer and digital reporter at WKBN in Youngstown and is a graduate of Point Park University. Reach her at erin.yudt@pointpark.edu.

The PMP Newsroom is a regional news service that focuses on government and enterprise reporting in southwestern Pennsylvania. Find out more information on foundation and corporate funders here.