00:02I guess you know you touched on a little bit but just what does it mean to have an exhibit
00:07here at the Hall of Honor celebrating what was such a monumentous event for the city of Pittsburgh? I mean
00:11I think it's iconic when you when you look around the hall you see obviously the history of the Steelers
00:16and you know amazing moments that we all grew up either watching or got to see in person but now
00:22you get to talk about not just football but about what this did for the community and I think that's
00:28something that we want to touch upon
00:29again the the millions and millions of people that watched as well as you know the hundreds of thousands that
00:35showed up it was really an iconic day for Pittsburgh and it also puts us on the national and international
00:40map to say Pittsburgh can do these things and I think that was why this is such a special event
00:46for all of us. So this is probably similar but the impact what do you think the long-term impact
00:50is of those three days? Yeah I mean I think the long-term impact I mean I think I said
00:55it to most people if if you've never been to Pittsburgh we're going to surprise you and I think you
00:59you know talking just about neighborhoods that didn't see that bump from the draft especially the strip well guess what
01:07all the visitors that came here are going to come back and I think that's why that's a long-term
01:11game because when you're coming here specifically for a game specifically for the draft you're coming straight here but now
01:17you're going to come back and visit Pittsburgh and I think that was the biggest win for us and the
01:22amount of revenue that was put in the amount of support from everybody that's a long-term win and when
01:28you could be in front of millions
01:29millions and millions of people and have 800,000 show up that's priceless and I think we got to tell
01:35our story and I think that was the biggest thing to get those 800,000 people here to see Pittsburgh
01:40and experience it but then also if you haven't really seen Pittsburgh on TV except at night for a Monday
01:46night game you really got to see the beauty throughout the day and I think that was a big win
01:50for all of us. More specifically what have you done to kind of seize that momentum? I mean I know
01:54I spoke with the national football and you say now it's in Pittsburgh's hands so what do you do to
02:00Yeah that's it yeah great question um so I mean obviously looking at other events that could be hosted here
02:05but then from there it's also the people that were here the connections that were made that week when it
02:10comes to small businesses when it comes to large corporations when it comes to businesses that are looking now at
02:16Pittsburgh because they didn't know that we had all of these AI robotics life sciences right in our backyard you
02:23know now we're competing on that worldwide stage because they came to Pittsburgh for the draft and now it's on
02:28us to make those
02:29follow-ups which is why every week I call 10 companies whether they're local national or international just to talk
02:35about Pittsburgh and a lot of the times especially right after they said Pittsburgh look beautiful on TV and I
02:40think if if you can get in a conversation and you get to Pittsburgh we're going to win because we
02:47have everything that you want in our city and it's now about us just continuing to build that momentum. So
02:52you're having conversations at this point but nothing. Well there's there's you know there's startups there there's companies that could
02:58spin off and
02:59stay here and stay here or come here but I think that that's the big win and if you weren't
03:03here you know we had calls not only to companies I mean we're calling conventions that were on their short
03:09list and it's like okay well why not you saw what we can do now you know we have a
03:13new hotel that's going to be built in downtown first time in 17 years since the Fairmont so the more
03:18we can build off of that momentum the better off we all are.
03:21Or has it hit you that a kid from Greenfield is going to walk the sidelines?
03:26It's a great story I mean I think that's something that you know we're all excited about and it's ironic
03:33that they're playing Green Bay tonight but because we even I mean we all remember the Super Bowl where we
03:39lost but then the feeling was well at least we lost to a guy from Greenfield.
03:42So you know not that we ever like to lose but I think it's a great Pittsburgh story and I
03:47think you know when you talk to him he is Pittsburgh through and through and I think you know he
03:53gets when he walks in the strip district he's the Steeler fan and I think when you have that fan
03:58coaching the team you have a lot more pride and passion.
04:01And I think he's going to do a very good job.
04:04Do you have one quick one just you know with you mentioned those hotels I think that's a big part
04:09of bringing more sports things here bringing more sports events here.
04:12How much does that play into kind of a long-term future vision of what you guys want to do
04:15with these big style sports?
04:17Yeah I mean it's big not just for you know obviously the Steelers in the NFL who you know look
04:22for hotels to to have you know their executives stay in when we're hosting a playoff game and various things
04:27like that.
04:27But then other teams and when they're coming you know looking at other all-star games that we've hosted in
04:32the past can we now get you here.
04:34We're looking at flag football leagues that the NFL runs to try to pursue those for a couple year plans
04:40and by having more amenities to do that we can host those things.
04:44And let's not forget the convention center hosts a number of basketball tournaments all summer that bring thousands of families
04:50to Pittsburgh.
04:50And then now based on the draft you know we also got a brand new football stadium at Hazelwood Green
04:56which could hopefully host some NFL activity in the future as well.
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