National Headed to Chicago Again in 2026

[timber63401]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

Totally right, why should I expect anything else?

Vegas would be a grand location. The knock I heard was that dealers wouldn't want to travel to Vegas, which I find hard to believe.

They would have plenty of dealers that would set up.....maybe not all the old guard that gets tables every year but there absence would be replaced. Should be a rotating system in place for dealers anyways. For the record if it was in Chicago every year I wouldn't mind since that's the location closest to me but would love for them to try west of the Mississippi ONE FRICKEN TIME and see how it goes.

[obcbobd]

Am I understanding this correctly? The people who set up in Chicago voted where it should be in 2026 and they voted for Chicago.

[jiw98]

I personally like Chicago. It’s only 3 1/2 hours from home. Cleveland is about 6 hours, so that’s not too bad for me either. Is Indianapolis a place that’s not a good option? I’m not sure if the needed space is available, but it’s a centrally located location and should have plenty of rooms available.

[jethrod3]

Originally Posted by jiw98

I personally like Chicago. It’s only 3 1/2 hours from home. Cleveland is about 6 hours, so that’s not too bad for me either. Is Indianapolis a place that’s not a good option? I’m not sure if the needed space is available, but it’s a centrally located location and should have plenty of rooms available.

I've been a proponent for Indianapolis hosting the National as well. The Indiana Convention Center ballrooms cover 62,173 sq. ft. Can't remember what the space requirement is for the National----might be a tad bit too small. But when you add in Lucas Oil Stadium, which is connected to the Convention Center, that supposedly adds "up to 183,000 contiguous square feet of space." I have no idea if anyone seriously explored Indianapolis as an option though. Maybe time they should if they haven't yet.

[Hankphenom]

I Have no dog in this hunt--too old to be going to Nationals now unless they're in D.C./Baltimore/Philly. But it strikes me that the consistent choice of Chicago, Cleveland, and AC are the result of a flawed system not unlike the taxicab medallions in NYC. The long-time dealers in the Northeast, with their top priorities, are always going to vote for a location within a one day drive. And I'm guessing those valuable dealer priorities rarely change, but rather get passed down one way or another. For example, no way H&S loses its high priority just because Bill Huggins passes away. I don't know if there is actually an active marketplace for these coveted dealer slots at the Nationals, but I wouldn't be surprised. So instead of more dealers from the south, west, and southwest--West Coast, Vegas, Dallas, Atlanta, Florida, etc.--having a say in where the Nationals will be held as the country's population and economy move there, the "legacy" dealers from the Northeast continue to be in control and will always be as long as this system remains in place.

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by jethrod3

I've been a proponent for Indianapolis hosting the National as well. The Indiana Convention Center ballrooms cover 62,173 sq. ft. Can't remember what the space requirement is for the National----might be a tad bit too small. But when you add in Lucas Oil Stadium, which is connected to the Convention Center, that supposedly adds "up to 183,000 contiguous square feet of space." I have no idea if anyone seriously explored Indianapolis as an option though. Maybe time they should if they haven't yet.

A minimum of 600,000 square feet is required for the National so unless there is a different much larger venue, they will not be looking at it.

[Jewish-collector]

They can't do Indianapolis because it's too small.

As mentioned, the convention center needs to have a minimum of 600,000 contiguous square feet. Unrelated to venue availability, scheduling, costs, fees, hotels, etc,... I might be missing one or two, but these are pretty much the only convention centers that they will consider:

McCormick Place
Las Vegas Convention Center
Orange County Convention Center
Georgia World Congress Center
New Orleans Convention Center
World Equestrian Center
International Exposition Center (I-X Center)
Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center
Pennsylvania Convention Center
Sands Expo and Convention Center
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
George R. Brown Convention Center
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
Huntington Place
Moscone Convention Center
San Diego Convention Center

[MBMiller25]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

They can't do Indianapolis because it's too small.

As mentioned, the convention center needs to have a minimum of 600,000 contiguous square feet. Unrelated to venue availability, scheduling, costs, fees, hotels, etc,... I might be missing one or two, but these are pretty much the only convention centers that they will consider:

McCormick Place
Las Vegas Convention Center
Orange County Convention Center
Georgia World Congress Center
New Orleans Convention Center
World Equestrian Center
International Exposition Center (I-X Center)
Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center
Pennsylvania Convention Center
Sands Expo and Convention Center
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
George R. Brown Convention Center
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
Huntington Place
Moscone Convention Center
San Diego Convention Center

And of these with the space requirements need to be available on the date windows the National is shooting for.

[Brian Van Horn]

Guess air conditioning wasn't a factor in the vote.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by jethrod3

I've been a proponent for Indianapolis hosting the National as well. The Indiana Convention Center ballrooms cover 62,173 sq. ft. Can't remember what the space requirement is for the National----might be a tad bit too small. But when you add in Lucas Oil Stadium, which is connected to the Convention Center, that supposedly adds "up to 183,000 contiguous square feet of space." I have no idea if anyone seriously explored Indianapolis as an option though. Maybe time they should if they haven't yet.

Not even close. Chicago was well over 600,000 Sq feet

A lot of these questions and complaints have been answered many times in other threads, but here goes:

Location Issues

1. Square footage is the easiest problem to quantify, there are very few venues that can provide the space needed.

2. Time Frame - You'd be surprised hoe many venues will not book years in advance which the National absolutely has to be able to do. I have heard in the past that this is the problem with Vegas

3. Democracy - If you let the current dealers vote it's going to stay where the current dealers are happiest

As a side note I didn't vote for Chicago.

[MVSNYC]

IMO, the Nat'l should rotate venues across the country- west coast, east coast, mid-west, etc. Would keep it fresh, exciting, etc. Just my 2 cents.

Jewish-collector- Good list BTW...Would be cool to see some of them get a shot...

McCormick Place
Las Vegas Convention Center
Orange County Convention Center
Georgia World Congress Center
New Orleans Convention Center
World Equestrian Center
International Exposition Center (I-X Center)
Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center
Pennsylvania Convention Center
Sands Expo and Convention Center
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
George R. Brown Convention Center
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
Huntington Place
Moscone Convention Center
San Diego Convention Center

[Vintagedeputy]

Chicago again?

Screwed once more.

[IndyDave]

Originally Posted by jethrod3

I've been a proponent for Indianapolis hosting the National as well. The Indiana Convention Center ballrooms cover 62,173 sq. ft. Can't remember what the space requirement is for the National----might be a tad bit too small. But when you add in Lucas Oil Stadium, which is connected to the Convention Center, that supposedly adds "up to 183,000 contiguous square feet of space." I have no idea if anyone seriously explored Indianapolis as an option though. Maybe time they should if they haven't yet.

62k square feet is smaller than the typical chain grocery store. The Indianapolis Convention Center is much larger than that

The ballrooms are 62k sf but the main exhibit hall is 566k sf of contiguous space

https://www.visitindy.com/meetings/m...ention-center/

That said, I live here and would love for it to be here. But flights to Chicago are a lot easier

[IndyDave]

Originally Posted by jethrod3

I've been a proponent for Indianapolis hosting the National as well. The Indiana Convention Center ballrooms cover 62,173 sq. ft. Can't remember what the space requirement is for the National----might be a tad bit too small. But when you add in Lucas Oil Stadium, which is connected to the Convention Center, that supposedly adds "up to 183,000 contiguous square feet of space." I have no idea if anyone seriously explored Indianapolis as an option though. Maybe time they should if they haven't yet.

62k square feet is smaller than the typical chain grocery store. The Indianapolis Convention Center is much larger than that

The ballrooms are 62k sf but the main exhibit hall is 566k sf of contiguous space

https://www.visitindy.com/meetings/m...ention-center/

That said, I live here and would love for it to be here. But flights to Chicago are a lot easier