Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor hopes NFL draft will lead to more investments from businesses

The NFL said about 805,000 people attended the NFL draft over the three-day event. City leaders called it a success, saying it shows the city in a great light.

The big hope going into the draft was to showcase the area to the world. Now it's about getting results from that hope as the NFL starts to clean up and leave town.

Record-setting crowds are exactly what regional leaders wanted. Pittsburghers showed up along with thousands of out-of-towners. 

"I think that's the real win for this week was how many people have left, went home to wherever they are from to talk about Pittsburgh," Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor said on Monday.

Over the past week, the mayor along with regional and state leaders met with businesses to show them what the area has to offer. According to O'Connor, they were impressed. Time will tell if it leads to any investments.

"That's why we're so aggressive in making those calls, and we're so excited to talk about Pittsburgh to people that haven't been here that will invest in Pittsburgh in the future because now our residents see a benefit," O'Connor said.

One thing most people can't question is that the pride of the region was on display.

"I'll tell the NFL this. I'll tell anybody this. You did not get an event where you're going to see a city that has as much pride as we did. I think Pittsburghers showed that true black and gold all the way through," O'Connor said.

He said the city is figuring out the overtime numbers from the event. According to him, there is state money to help and cover costs to prevent going back into the city coffers.

However, some businesses, like those in the Strip District, said that they were underwhelmed and had hoped to get more customers in their doors. 

Jim Coen, who owns Yinzers in the Burgh, said he brought in about $300,000 worth of draft merchandise but didn't sell about 25% to 30% of it. Down the street, DeLuca's Diner said they even lost business. 

"The regulars stayed away because they think it was going to be hectic," DeLuca's manager Anthony Forbes said.

Both Coen and Forbes said it was hard for people to get to their end of town. The draft footprint was centered around Downtown and the North Shore. 

"I think it's hard to predict where people are going to go," O'Connor said. "If it's such centered-on football, people went directly to the sites."