Sports Memorabilia Dealers
NSCC show manager John Broggi has guided The National to record crowds, biggest shows in event history
John Broggi vividly recalls the first year he was one of the show managers for the National Sports Collectors Convention.
The previous promoter, Bob Byer, had his contract terminated, and SMI LLC — which consisted of Broggi, Mike Berkus and Bob Wilke — was taking over for the 2006 show.
SMI was put in a tough situation that first year in Anaheim, Calif.
Also See: The National 2023 show schedule
“We had no website, no dealer list. We had nothing,” Broggi said. “Yet, we were able to put on a show, and I think it was successful. We learned so much from doing that show and subsequent shows that by the time we got to the 2010s, 2015s, I think we started to put on some of the best shows that The National has ever seen.
“The 2021 show right after the pandemic was the best attended show since Anaheim 1991. And, I still don’t believe the numbers they throw out for that show, but that’s neither here nor there. The last three shows that we’ve done have been crazy, absolutely crazy.”
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This year will be the final show for SMI and Broggi as the show managers. Last year, the NSCC Board of Directors granted the show contract to JBJ Corporation, which is run by card/memorabilia dealers Joe Drelich, Brian Coppola and Jim Ryan.
LONG RUN OF SUCCESS
It has been a heck of a run with The National for Broggi and the company — 17 shows in all. Wilke split from the company in 2010, leaving Broggi and Berkus to manage the hobby’s annual marquee show.
Broggi and Berkus shined as the promoters.
“They were separated at birth, I think,” joked longtime card/memorabilia dealer Kit Young. “Very different skills. I kind of thought they were kind of like Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside. John can sell, but nobody can talk like Berkus. They had just wonderful chemistry. … It takes a mix.”
The duo changed the way everything was run with The National. After that first year when Broggi’s wife, Barb, was put in charge of distributing tickets, they quickly realized the need for an online ticket service to take care of that segment of the show. Also, a much-needed website was added.
Young said Broggi and Berkus understood the need to adapt and update, and that made the show flourish.
“The National then is unrecognizable now,” Young said. “I like the old days. It was a ‘card show.’ Now it’s an event that includes cards. … What John and Mike did was just take The National to a very different level. They had to. The industry’s so different from what it was.”
Ten years into the Broggi-Berkus partnership as The National promoters, tragedy struck. In November 2015, Berkus, who co-founded The National, passed away after a brief battle with brain cancer.
Losing his good friend was tough for Broggi. However, he surged ahead. The show had to go on.
Dan Berkus came on board after his dad died to be Broggi’s partner. Initially, Dan didn’t know much about the operation, but he’s become a valuable asset to Broggi over the years.
In 2020, Broggi had to make the very difficult decision to not have The National due to the ongoing pandemic.
Despite not having the show for the first time since it started in 1980, the hobby exploded in popularity. That set up the 2021 National in Rosemont, Ill., which brought new and old collectors together for one of the biggest shows in the history of the event. Last year’s show in Atlantic City also attracted close to a record crowd.
Folks longtime linked to the hobby have thoroughly enjoyed watching Broggi successfully run the show. One of those friends in the business is Beckett founder Dr. James Beckett.
“I think the last few years there have been some challenges that he’s been up to with COVID and all that stuff,” Beckett said. “You can kind of break it down into The Nationals before Mike and John got involved; there were some really good ones, and there were some not as good ones. Since they had a lot of hobby insight, they really brought some consistency and I think really did a great job.
“The different challenge was after Mike passed away, and then John made the best of it in difficult times. These last couple Nationals have been very strong, been very strong. You learn about somebody’s business acumen and their character in two different circumstances: one, if there’s some failure, you find out what you’re made of. The second part is if you have some success. There were some things that weren’t perfect, as always happens, but they were strong shows. I credit John and his team for that.”
TRISTAR Productions started running the autograph segment of The National in 2006. TRISTAR founder Jeff Rosenberg has been working alongside Broggi that entire time and watched him grow the show to meet the demands of the industry.
“John is what I call a very steady hand,” Rosenberg said. “John keeps a really even keel. John is just very positive in the sense that he’s always looking to help the show grow, always asking us questions, what we can do to make the show better and asking us what resources we need to help grow the autograph pavilion and market the show. He’s just been a very steady hand and somebody who loves the industry, loves the hobby and always looking to improve.”
LASTING LEGACY
Broggi has been involved with The National since 1984 when he had a booth as a dealer. He started working for the show in 1998, running the Mickey Mantle golf tournament.
Now in his 17th National as show manager, Broggi runs a well-oiled machine.
“It’s been fun,” he said. “I think if people want to remember us, [it’s] that we’ve put on some of the best shows that they’ve ever done and we go out with our heads held high.”
Besides Broggi and Berkus, there is just one full-time employee dedicated to running The National. About 20-30 people — mostly relatives and family friends of Broggi — are hired every year for the show. Broggi’s top security guy, Larry Ross, has been working the show every year for Broggi.
“I’m going to give our team a pat on the back for being able to handle the exponential growth of the show as a result of an increase in interest in the hobby,” Broggi said. “We saw the people out there wanting things and we were able to provide them and yet still get everybody into the show — corporates, dealers, attendees. It’s just been a great ride, and I think our team has done a great job.”
Broggi has built a number of solid relationships along the way and organizing the show seems to flow more smoothly with each passing year.
“The people that we’ve met have been great. But more than that, I think our staff has done a tremendous job,” Broggi said. “We walk into the convention center on Sunday morning before everybody else gets there and everybody knows their job. A lot of it’s family, which I’m proud of. But we have a bunch of other people we bring in who have been working with us anywhere from 2006 to the last couple years where we brought some people on who were actually friends of our staff. They know what their jobs are before we walk in. I think that’s the key to it, and that makes everything run smoothly. It allows us to be prepared for any eventuality we have.
“In 2021, we had no clue how big the attendance was going to be. Coming off the pandemic, we didn’t know if people were going to show up. We knew we had sold a number of tickets, but we didn’t know what the walk-up was going to be, and the walk-up was crazy good. The staff knowing what to do and the fact that we’ve run the show at the Donald E. Stephens [Convention Center] for a number of years now, it makes things a lot easier. We’re pleased with the job that we have done and the fact that we put The National in a great position moving forward.”
One major reason Broggi has been so successful is his ability to remember who the event belongs to: the dealers.
“I’ve been really impressed working with him that he always asks us what our opinion is, like which cities will be good and the convention center and things of that nature,” Rosenberg said. “He wants everybody’s opinion so he can make the decision that’s best for the large group for the industry.”
For those who have worked alongside him for years, they know Broggi’s legacy with The National and the industry is a great one.
“I think it’s very strong,” Rosenberg said. “When The National was kind of moving around from promoter to promoter, he was the one who steadied it, he and Mike. He’s led us into this incredible growth we’ve had over the last several years as the hobby has grown and he’s taken The National to new heights.”
“He’s had an untarnished reputation with the show,” Young said. “Our industry has unfortunately some bad-mouthing of high-profile people. I don’t get it with John.”
Beckett has been to every National and he’s witnessed the growth of the hobby, especially in the last few years. He’s expecting big things at this year’s show.
“I hate to make a prediction that could be right or could be wrong, but it’s possible this National this year will be the biggest one ever. It’s very possible,” Beckett said. “That would really be the Broggi legacy because that would be John and his team. The last two have been right up there. But if this is bigger and better, an ideal location, I’m hopeful. That would be a wonderful tribute to all John’s hard work and [how he’s] paid his dues and the legacy of Mike Berkus. That would be a great way to go out, really go out on top.”
“I think his swan song might be his best,” Rosenberg said.
