Sports Card Dealers
National Sports Collectors Convention to return to Chicago for back-to-back shows in 2025 and 2026
The National Sports Collectors Convention will return to a familiar venue in 2026, with the hobby’s biggest show once again being held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill.
Card and memorabilia dealers voted to return to Chicago for the 2026 show over Atlantic City and Atlanta. Of 333 ballots cast, the Chicago venue received 170 votes to 111 for Atlantic City and 52 for Atlanta.
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It will mark the 16th time The National has been held in the Chicago suburb or a surrounding area. The National was held in Rosemont this year, setting an attendance record for the 43-year-old event. It will also return to Chicago in 2025. The 2024 show will be held at the I-X Center in Cleveland.
The 2026 show will mark the first time the show has been held in Chicago in back-to-back years. It has been held in Chicago every other year since 2011.
The annual show will be under new management beginning next month, with JBJ Corporation taking over the show from SMI LLC, which was run by longtime show promoters John Broggi and Dan Berkus. JBJ is owned by dealers and show promoters Joe Drelich, Brian Coppola and Jim Ryan.
Dealers who have vendor booths at the annual show vote on its location each year. According to Al Durso, president of The National Board of Directors, the board presented dealers with 27 possible locations for 2026. That list was eventually pared down to three locations and dealers voted during the booth lottery at this year’s National in Chicago. Additional dealers were allowed to vote by mail to help determine the final tally. The process led to the most votes ever cast for the show location.
While many dealers have pushed for the annual show to move around to more new locations, many at the 2023 show said they cast their vote for Chicago over Atlanta and a return to Atlantic City. Atlanta has hosted the event twice (1992 and 1999), while Atlantic City has hosted it four times (1988, 2003, 2016 and 2022).
Atlantic City was offering dealers as much as $1,000 each to return to New Jersey in 2026, sources at this year’s National said.
The overwhelming majority, however, chose to return to the show’s most popular venue.
“This is the carnival of all the shows,” said dealer Rick Giddings of Gizmo’s Sportscards, who voted for Chicago. “It seems to draw more than anywhere else, the facilities are best here. More food places, hotels. You got the Blue Line [train] right here, you got the airport right here. People like convenience, and that’s what’s great about Chicago.”
Longtime dealer Kit Young, who has only missed two of the 43 Nationals, also voted for Chicago.
“To me, it’s a no-brainer,” Young said. “It’s easy to get to from all over the country, hotels on the spot, great facility, big spot and 20 million people within two or three hours.”
Longtime collector, card grader and industry insider Joe Orlando, who is now Executive Vice President of Sports at Heritage Auctions, supports making Chicago the permanent home of the show.
“I think a lot of dealers and collectors — a lot of them — would be very supportive if they kept it in Chicago every year,” Orlando said. “It just makes sense. We want to make it as easy as possible for not only the exhibitors to get here, but collectors, the attendees to get here. What better venue than the Rosemont center. If they decide one day to have The National in Chicago every year, they have my vote.”
— Greg Bates contributed to this story.
Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD.
