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~ Pittsburgh Officials and the NFL have announced that over $215 million dollars would be generated in Pittsburgh PA, based on the upcoming NFL Draft from direct spending by Draft attendees with local brick n’ mortars business owners in this City ~
In October 2025, Pittsburgh event producer, William Marshall submitted an City Application to host a Proposed “Pittsburgh Draft Bash” in Downtown Pittsburgh, where some 95 small Black and Minority Business Owners could sell products during the upcoming NFL Draft.
Following the Three Rivers Art Festival, Marshall has used this same location during the annual Juneteenth, Black Music Celebration and Pittsburgh Soul Food Festival as a Small Business Vendor Zone to allow Minority Businesses to sell products to event attendees, make money and then circulate those funds back into Pittsburgh’s disadvantaged communities.
On Wednesday March 4th, 2026, Marshall and other small business vendors held a Press Conference to announce that because of the City’s inaction on his pending Special Events Application, Marshall determined that it was now to late to produce the planned Draft Bash event, which has caused over 100 small Black Business Owners to miss out on the anticipated $215 million dollars that the City and NFL have announced that local businesses would share.
However, in response to Marshall’s Press Conference, the City offered Marshall the opportunity to set-up FIVE (5) Black Business Owners to participate in the Draft – Marshall declined this offer as he believed that it would not be fair to the remaining 85 businesses who had applied to sell Products at his proposed event.
However, on March 2nd, at a NFL Stakeholders Town Hall Meeting at Acrisure Stadium, NFL Officials announced that they planned to set-up Vendors in Point State Park and throughout the Northshore NFL Draft Zone, and that these businesses would be allowed to sell products to Draft attendees and to keep 100% of their profits.
None of the local Black business owners who applied with Marshall for the Draft Bash have been conducted by the NFL or City to participate in the NFL Vendor Program inside Point State Park or the Northshore.
Other actions are now being considered to address this inequality.
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