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Disney Reveals 2026 NFL Draft Coverage Plans
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- Disney Reveals 2026 NFL Draft Coverage Plans
Pat McAfee during his show at St. Vincent College on July 30, 2025. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Disney will "flood the zone" with four different NFL Draft broadcasts between ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, and Pat McAfee for the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh on April 23-25, according to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports .
On April 1, all NFL Network employees become employees of ESPN. Despite the merger, ESPN will allow NFL Network to broadcast its own version of the NFL Draft. ESPN and NFL Network have been competitors in NFL Draft coverage since 2006.
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Mike Greenberg will lead ESPN's coverage for the sixth straight year, while Rich Eisen is expected to lead the NFL Network's coverage for the 20th consecutive year.
Look for ESPN talents to occasionally "cross over" to NFL Networks coverage and vice versa, one source told McCarthy.
On ABC, Rece Davis will host the Disney broadcast network's more College GameDay -centric version.
It will be the third straight year of The Pat McAfee Show having an on-location coverage of the NFL Draft. McAfee was born and raised just outside of Pittsburgh, so the broadcast is expected to have a ton of ties to the Steel City. Last year, McAfee's Draft show was available across YouTube, TikTok, the ESPN App, and streaming on ESPN+.
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VisitPittsburgh expects the 2026 NFL Draft to be the biggest event in the city of Pittsburgh's history. A reported 500,000-700,000 visitors are expected in the city for the draft.
The draft stage will sit on the North Shore, outside Acrisure Stadium. The NFL Draft Experience fan festival will be at Point State Park. The Roberto Clemente Bridge will close to car traffic so fans can move between the two areas on foot.
"The layout of the 2026 NFL Draft campus is intentionally designed to celebrate Pittsburgh's sense of place," said Jerad Bachar, President & CEO of VisitPITTSBURGH. "From the North Shore to Point State Park, across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and along the rivers, this Draft will showcase our city's character, connectivity, and hospitality in a way only Pittsburgh can."
For the first time since December of 1947, the city of Pittsburgh will host the NFL Draft.
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The draft will provide an astronomical economic boost to the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Detroit hosted the 2024 NFL Draft, and saw an estimated $160 million economic windfall from doing so, while setting an all-time attendance record, with over 775,000 people visiting the Motor City for the three-day event in April.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Disney Reveals 2026 NFL Draft Coverage Plans
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