Charlotte Shields-Rossi | a&e editor

With more than 700,000 tourists visiting Pittsburgh for the 2026 NFL Draft, hotels close to Acrisure Stadium — the draft’s home base — are mostly at full capacity.

Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Pittsburgh Downtown, located two miles from the stadium, was almost completely sold out as of April 2.

Josh Caton, director of sales at the hotel, said that capacity is already very limited, especially on Thursday. He said they plan on being able to fully accommodate the visitors, even if they run out of rooms.

“The city has given a lot of tools on how to keep the guests comfortable,” Caton said. “Such as transportation and information on how to get around.”

According to their website, as of April 2, a guest room with one king-sized bed costs $899 a night during draft weekend.

“We do have premium event rates,” Caton said. “I would say on average [we raised the price] about $600-$700.”

As hotels get closer to the stadium the prices and event rates increase. The Landing Hotel, less than half a mile away from the stadium, is priced at $1,707.72 for the duration in a standard king size bed according to their website. For the three days after that the total comes to $430.92. Even hotels like SpringHill Suites by Marriot, in Latrobe, located 44.8 miles from the stadium jumped from $174 dollars a night (three days after the draft) to $227 a night during the draft, according to their website.

‘It’s a way to make a heck of a lot of money’

Allegheny County boasts around 19,000 hotel rooms and an additional 35,000 in surrounding counties, according to WTAE.

With only so many hotel rooms, tourists are looking toward short-term rentals as their place to stay during the event.

HostWise, a short-term vacation rental company, has over 120 vacation rentals across Pittsburgh. A month before the draft less than 40% of those properties had been fully booked.

Chad Wise, CEO and founder of HostWise, said that as the draft gets closer and closer guests are waiting to book their stays in the hope that prices will drop.
 

“There is a game between guests and hosts, when it comes to price,” Wise said.

Wise said he wasn’t worried about not booking the currently unrented properties, simply because the demand will be so high.

“There are not enough short-term rentals in Pittsburgh to begin with,” he said. “We will definitely be at 100% [booking] by the time of the draft, it is just a question of when.”

Some rental companies like Turning Leaf Vacation Rentals’ units are already fully booked. The rental company’s units in Mount Washington, Squirrel Hill and Morningside hit capacity a month ago.

Alice Beckett-Rumberger, design lead for Turning Leaf Vacation Rentals, said that even though all the rental properties had increased pricing, they still sold out.

“When there is demand, the price is higher, spring season is already a big time for our rentals,” Beckett-Rumberger said.

Beckett-Rumberger noticed that a lot of Pittsburgh residents have tried renting out their properties outside of platforms like Airbnb for the first time during the NFL draft, but she warns them against it.

“People are doing one offs on the side, they don’t understand the business,” she said. “What if something happens? It could be bad, it gets both people in trouble.”

Kelly Frey, Pittsburgh-based Realtor at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, said that she has seen interest from residents trying to buy second properties to rent out during high demand times like the NFL draft.

“It’s a way to make a heck of a lot of money in a short time,” Frey said.

She tells people looking to possibly get into short-term rentals during the NFL Draft to be cautious. Frey hopes the draft will drum up business for her and her real estate. It is a way for Pittsburgh to showcase the city and the properties it has, she said.

“People are going to come in and see our city, and it’s going to look fabulous, and people are going to leave wanting to move here or buy a second property,” Frey said. “It’s like going in for a job interview and you have everything ready to go, everyone is using this as an opportunity to showcase our city.”

Charlotte Shields-Rossi can be reached at shieldsrossic@duq.edu