Chicago, Atlanta and Atlantic City are the three locations under consideration to host the 2026 National Sports Collectors Convention.
National dealers will gather next Tuesday just ahead of the opening of the 2023 event in Chicago to discuss those locations. Dealers will then cast ballots next Thursday and Friday and mail-in voting is also part of the process to determine the host city for the hobby’s largest annual show.
The 2024 show is already set for to the I-X Center in Cleveland with the ’25 event slated to return to the Stephens Convention Center in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont.
JBJ Promotions will take over operation of the National next year. At Tuesday’s meeting, JBJ “will introduce themselves and explain the options and process of the National site selection for 2026,” according to a letter sent to exhibitors.
Atlanta’s inclusion as a 2026 finalist is an interesting one. The NSCC was held there in 1992 and ’99 but hasn’t returned as the show settled into what’s become largely a Chicago/Cleveland/Atlantic City rotation. Baltimore did host in 2010 and 2012.
Atlantic City was scheduled to host the show in 2020 butthe show was canceled to due COVID and the city was then awarded last year’s event. While the resort city is a popular choice with some east coast dealers and collectors, others have complained about the quality of the surrounding area, parking and the difficulty in flying into the city’s small airport.
Rosemont has hosted the show ten times with McCormick Place in Chicago hosting three additional times.
The show hasn’t been held in the western U.S. since 2006.
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