Detroit loses all-time NFL draft attendance record to Pittsburgh

Detroit no longer holds the record for largest overall NFL draft attendance or Day 1 attendance.

Detroit set the NFL draft Day 1 record in 2024 with 275,000 attendees.

It also broke the all-time attendance record with 775,000 fans spectating downtown over the three-day event.

In 2025, Green Bay fell short of the record with 205,000 fans for Round 1 and 600,000 over the entire draft.

Pittsburgh overtook the Motor City's titles Thursday, April 23 and again Saturday, April 25.

An estimated 320,000 fans were in attendance for Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft on Thursday at the Acrisure Stadium grounds in Pittsburgh, according to USA TODAY.

Over 600,000 people attended the Pittsburgh draft over the first two days, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Saturday as he challenged the city to beat Detroit – needing only 176,000 attendees on Day 3 to do so.

On Day 3, Pittsburgh also broke the all-time record with 805,000 fans attending the draft over three days, the league announced on Saturday night.

Pittsburgh set a new @NFLDraft attendance record with 805,000 people over 3 days 👏 pic.twitter.com/Bx6AJcN3lA— NFL (@NFL) April 25, 2026

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit loses all-time NFL draft attendance record to Pittsburgh