Indianapolis would be a fantastic location. The City really knows how to put on a show and everything is located within walking distance.

As an Atlanta resident I would love Atlanta. But the city sucks for getting around and restaurants/places to go downtown sucks. Perhaps at Cobb Galleria in Marietta.

Savannah Trade Center would be wonderful. But since the airport is small airline tickets there can get pricey.

I didn't realize Rosemont was non-union. I've done a lot of trade shows it is always a pain to deal with the union and/or the show logistics. You can't even change a light bulb in your booth in McCormick. In Vegas you can't use the elevator or anything with wheels to move your booth gear, hand carry only. So glad I don't do trade shows anymore. The extortion, I mean markup, for GES services at a lot of the shows makes Ticketmaster look reasonable.

A lot of locations are hot in July/August. They should have functioning AC though. You really don't want to think about Vegas, St Louis, or Atlanta that time of year.

2012 was a long time ago.

The voting was something like 175 for Chicago, 110 for Atlantic City and 50 for Atlanta for the 2026 National.

The bolded part is just not accurate.

Also Virginia can barely put on a decent regional show in Chantilly…

How sweet it was!

Baltimore was hot? Wait until you feel the heat in Atlanta! There is a reason why folks speak slower in the south; it so damn hot no one wants to move, even their lips! I live in the DMV and yes it is hot and humid during the summer but nothing as ungodly as the two days I spent in Atlanta at Braves games.

[QUOTE=JollyElm;2498813]
Smellpox - /QUOTE]

I giggled like a third grader at this.

Of course it's accurate. Most of the people going to the national in Chicago are flying, I haven't seen a n54er going that hasn't said they weren't flying yet. Like I already said, the northeast is the most heavily populated area of collectors, the ability to drive a short time enables people who can't spend exorbitant amounts on flights and hotel rooms the ability to go to the national. Its not subjective or an "I think I'm right" moment. Its objective and a fact. Crunching some simple numbers $100 in gas and a single day trip vs a $500 round trip economy flight and $200 a night in a hotel room or more depending on nights spent are pretty drastic differences. Most people aren't going to a show with thousands of dollars in their pockets. They are going with 50 or a few hundred bucks to spend on a single card or a bunch of cheap cards. So saving probably damn near $1000 after everything else is added up is massive.

I hear everybody saying they want a centralized national to be fair, and I respect that. But traveling to Nevada or the middle of Texas is just out of the cards for most people. That's a vacation for many, not a hobby trip. If the national wants to have the most people turn out every year it would be held in the northeast. That's all I'm saying.

And Chantilly never has any issues? And always has good turnout. So I'm not sure what that comment was about.

GENCON July 31, 2025- August 3, 2025 Indianapolis Convention Center. It has been there since 2003. The National isn't going to displace it.

Imagine that, a convention being held at the same place for over 20 years. We must have at least 5 threads a year complaining about where the National is or should be.

I'm sure we do. Because 99.8% of us would love to attend every year, and where it's located both brings in a lot of people and eliminates a lot of others.

I doubt that's different than how people feel who have other interests and attend other conventions like Gen Con. However, they must be getting enough people to show up for it to make it successful even though they hold it in the same place every year. It's probably not just the same people coming every year and others manage to figure out a way to get there if they really want to attend.

Has the National always been this week?

They could always change the dates :D

Agreed, with the proviso that the best venue I've seen for a card show was the Javits Center in Manhattan; I didn't care for Fanatics Fest but was impressed by the venue. The cost is hellish (tables would have to cost 3x as much) but the facility itself is exceptional and an easy walk to transport, food, hotels, etc.

I'm also in agreement about Chantilly. Not what it used to be. And a lot of dealers that used to set up are no longer.

I am going to have to disagree with you on these points.

The target audience of the show is not people with modest collecting budgets, it is collectors who are going to the show with thousands of dollars to spend, and they really don't care if the travel expenses are a thousand dollars more or less in any given year.

Also, the show is not the same as another card show. There is no economic argument that justifies the show in bargain shopping terms. If that is the focus, stay at home and buy on eBay. The National has bargains but is not the right show for bargain and budget-conscious collecting. It is the place for hunting down rare and obscure issues, finishing sets when you can see the cards in hand, finding crazy memorabilia, seeing insane eye candy on display, getting autographs, etc.

For me, at least, the most significant aspect of the National is that everyone goes. It is a great social week for me, a party to celebrate collecting with all the other at-heart ten-year-old boys and girls, a place to have hours-long conversations about cards like we did when we were kids. I dunno about most people but my wife and daughter have no interest at all in discussing which 1933 Goudey Ruth pose is the best one.

I agree with all of this. When I first started attending Nationals a couple decades ago there was a good chance I'd find a great, rare card to buy. As time went on, the Nationals became dominated by corporate sponsors/auction houses and the best cards I saw displayed were to be auctioned off in the near future. While I sometimes can still find a decent card to buy, I've adjusted my expectations and now really just go to walk around cards for a couple days, at least until I'm called back early for some kind of work emergency. The lower budget collector may still be able to find cards to buy but the powers that run the National aren't focusing on you. Which to me makes it a less necessary show to attend -- but if I can go I do go. I just don't feel as if I'm missing out as much if I don't.

I believe there has only been one year when it was different dates.

I know for sure 1996 National was the week before July 4th and some years it was the week later than now as the East Coast National was the following week.

A quick search for show programs on EBAY show 1999 show was a week earlier than now and 1990 was July 4th week. One could search other years if it is of interest but the point is there was a time the show was a different week than the past several years.

You are right, I believe the others were held at the Hyatt downtown.

This.

I went to the National in 2023 and was at the show from Wednesday through Friday. I spent around $2k on on flights, hotel, Ubers, and food/drink before I ever purchased a card, and it was well worth it just for the social aspect of it. I made one new buddy at that show and we still talk almost every week. This was only my 3rd National since 2002 as work or family vacation obligations typically get in the way; but I'll spend the money to go to any National I can, even if I had no cash for cards.

Food
 

I've never understood why the national doesn't invite every damn food truck in the city to set up outside. There were a couple food trucks inside at Cleveland last year (which is an AWFUL location) and those people made a killing.

I hope they do that for Chicago.

FWIW - As someone who flys in, I think chicago is a great location and honestly a great venue (other than the AC issue and the wifi issue a couple years back)

[QUOTE=commishbob;2499136]That's EXACTLY what you are supposed to do! :D

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. You're asking people in Chicago if they want to stay in Chicago. You'd get different dealers in California and then, if you hold it there, those guys are going to vote to hold it there again.

Those are the people who are, ahem, paying the bills for the show. We had a vote a couple of years for Atlanta, Atlantic City or Chicago and AC basically offered the dealers a rebate on their booths and we still ended up in Chicago.

I know it can be a tough concept for some people, but those people have paid the bills for the show have more of a right to determine where they want to be than you or I do. I'd love to see Arlington, TX continue to grow so we can have another NSCC here in the DFW area but I seriously doubt you'd get enough votes.

And I'll wager the promoters are always looking at other options to present to the people voting on the subject. But, frankly, in my opinion only, Chicago/ Rosemont is the best place to park the NSCC now and in future years.

Yes, people who pay the bills have a right to choose where it will be.

And the people who pay the people who pay the bills have a right to choose whether to attend.

I imagine at some point in the coming years attendance will start
to drop and the people who pay the bills will start to make other decisions.

No attendance is not going to increase every year.

And some of the corporate sponsors selling shiny nonsense and fractional bs will disappear.

Yes, attendance will increase each year.

+1

Most of the fractional companies are either gone or doing very little nowadays and hate to tell you this but the companies doing shiny stuff are hear to stay.

Here, here!

So wait, only dealer/corp fees pay the bills? What about all the attendees paying to get in?

I truly believe the NSCC got a good deal to stay in Rosemont and use that facility, bottom line. And I don't expect the National to be outside of Chicago/that venue in the next 10 years.

And I think staying in Rosemont is a great answer. And the people voting agree. Until the 2nd part of this post changes, folks we ain't moving. Period, end of sentence.

As of a couple years ago, here's how collectors feel (or at least the net54 community).

https://i.postimg.cc/jd3PbDtB/NSCCpoll.jpg

Collector Preference on Locations of The National

Doesn't matter, the dealers/corp sponsors have spoken.

The National in Chicago won't be hurting for attendees any time soon. And the 59 votes in that poll aren't moving the needle.

The reality is that the Stephens is sooooo much cheaper than other venues, the location is convenient for so many amenaties, and the dealers prefer it. So it would take a major drop in attendance to change their minds. And frankly, if you've been to the last few Nationals, you'd know attendance isn't an issue. The place is bursting at the seams in every venue.

I keep thinking that - At Some Point - they will give St. Louis another shot but not holding my breath.

Someone in threads noted that the last St. Louis National was 1995???

If so - Then that's the last time I attended the National - I have zero desire to go to Chicago......

Ditto. I haven't been since 2019, the last few years due to work and family issues (a trial in 2023 and a family thing last year), and I am very much looking forward to hanging with my fellow card fiends. As for cards, I will be happy if I can knock off the last several cards in some condition-sensitive pet projects that aren't rare but that I am picky about and would like to see in hand before I buy. But I am also not adverse to finding a great, rare card.

Incredibly shortsighted thinking, and an easy way to cook the golden goose. If it is held in Chicago in perpetuity, attendees will eventually discover the same dealers with the same stuff year after year, then attendance will decline and the show will lose relevance.

I doubt it; ComiCon is in San Diego every year and it is doing just fine. My friends who attend it like the predictability of it.

Most dealers turn over their inventories regularly, so seeing the same stale museum pieces is not a big threat for 95% of the attendees.

I do miss the local dealers who used to fill out the show, but the days of there being space for them is long past. With the entrenched seniority system the locals aren't getting tables anyway. I advocate a full lottery system, but that ain't happening, so this is a non-issue.

I like Rosemont as a permanent location given the other choices. Cleveland and AC are logistical disasters for anyone coming by air. I don't think there is an easier to reach and easier to get around place for the show than Rosemont, other than perhaps NYC, and that isn't realistic due to cost.

Consider me part of the 5%, but I'm not there for cards. I couldn't pick up a single thing the last few times I attended. Prior to that, I may have found a handful of very low-value items from dealers who must have won the lottery to set up, as they were never known to me before and never heard from since. I always attended in hopes of spending more, and on better quality material, but from a vintage autograph perspective, it was always the same sellers with the same stuff.

With all the extra dealers who came in 2023 as the entire show floor was used and then some, I find it harder to believe that you found nothing for your collection that year.

Agree.

Stopped attending after 2018 due to it having been a waste of time and resources for several years running. You have to cut your losses at some point.

The National should move around the country to give everyone a chance to attend:

Chicago
New York
Atlanta
Atlantic City
LA
Richmond
Charlotte
Miami
Santa Fe
New Orleans
Seattle


You get the idea.

In a perfect world, I wholeheartedly agree. But what we have heard over and over is that the economics just don't work.

If the Chicago location is very cheap for dealers compared to other places, I get it. The people who man the booths have to be able to turn a profit.

Unfortunately that might be the reality of it. But I don't like it. Chicago multiple years in a row is boring.





QUOTE=Vintagedeputy;2501148]The National should move around the country to give everyone a chance to attend:

Chicago
New York
Atlanta
Atlantic City
LA
Richmond
Charlotte
Miami
Santa Fe
New Orleans
Seattle


You get the idea.[/QUOTE]

Chicago, as a place, is a great city and metropolis. Absolutely no bad feeling towards Chicagoland, but the specific area surrounding the convention center is an absolute snooze fest. Before there was an app for everything, I recall spending 45 minutes just driving around aimlessly looking for a decent Mom & Pop diner one morning. There was nothing around for miles. Just nothing. Residential. I think all I found was a Hardees, which is clearly the culinary opposite of the end goal of my quest. Absolutely nothing to do, either, unless you still have energy left over to drive a fair distance in who knows what kind of traffic. I have heard that this has been improved within the hotel/convention center complex, but hanging out around there would not be my idea of a good time. The only thing I want to do when in that area is leave as soon as possible.

I remember working a show in Schaumburg years ago. It's too bad that the venue is too small for a National, as it was much cheerier and in better repair. There was more to do in that area, too. Better food and enjoyable bars.

I'd be good with that list. We can add some nice locations up north once we've annexed Canada.

As a longtime National Dealer(since 1997) who does admittedly fly in and not drive, Chicago(Rosemont) is hands down the easiest venue to get to. Five minutes from O'Hare and once in your hotel room, you are connected directly to the convention center(others are down the street but easily walkable). And, there are dozens of restaurants within walking distance. No need for rental car or Uber, etc.

Edited to say, IT WAS Insufferably hot for the first two days of the last National and it is said they have replaced the AC system components at fault and should be much more comfortable this time around.