Future of the National – South and West Locations

[parkplace33]

The National schedule is between Chicago and AC the next years. I was recently talking to a few dealers about the National being in another location in the future (South, West). I was told that is not happening per the National Board members 

Any reason why? I would think having a National in either Florida, Texas, Nevada or California would be beneficial and expand the growth of the show.

Let’s take for example Las Vegas:

- Allows collectors on the West Coast to attend.
- Plenty of hotels, parking, convention center, and close to a major airport.
- Brings in big money on a daily basis.

What do you think?

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

The National schedule is between Chicago and AC the next years. I was recently talking to a few dealers about the National being in another location in the future (South, West). I was told that is not happening per the National Board members 

Any reason why? I would think having a National in either Florida, Texas, Nevada or California would be beneficial and expand the growth of the show.

Let’s take for example Las Vegas:

- Allows collectors on the West Coast to attend.
- Plenty of hotels, parking, convention center, and close to a major airport.
- Brings in big money on a daily basis.

What do you think?

Oh my! Non-Fungible Black jack.

Count me in.

[Johnny630]

I would love to see that happen In the future after they’re already scheduled locations as planned due to contract obligations. In the future I would love to see a few more locations along with Chicago, Las Vegas, Dallas, and maybe the Philly Area.

[ocjack]

Seems like this has become a routine subject for discussion. Maybe that means we can have a ground-swell of activism for the movement of the show. And I still wonder if East Coast dealers are basically telling the Committee that they won't travel across the country. So that, combined with any other financial interests they may have, dictates the current location rotation.

Previous discussion: https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...light=national

[theuclakid]

yes this is somewhat dictated by the fact most National dealers are from the mid west and east...the expenses to travel to the west are more... secondly the venue has to be large enough and that eliminates a lot of potential areas I have been told...thirdly the time around the end of July and early August has to be available for a venue as that is when the NSCC people like to run it, also the "deal" the NSCC people get from certain venues to host it is important to them (they can make more money) especially like Atlantic City....also the NSCC have to be willing to commit to years in advance to a certain location to get considered...like Baltimore Inner harbor which was a great spot....the NSCC hasn't been willing to do that so that venue has not been feasible since 2012...Baltimore Inner harbor is a popular convention spot

I am from the west coast but the national hasn't returned here since 2006

Bruce Perry

National dealer

[rhettyeakley]

In the past it has always been the East Coast (& to a lesser extent the Midwest) dealers telling the Committee that they weren’t willing to travel west. That has always I feel been enough to persuade the committee that they shouldn’t because they didn’t want to have an empty convention hall. With the current popularity of sports cards/collectibles that doesn’t really feel like a valid enough reason anymore. There are literal waiting lists for booths at these shows.

It is incredibly short sighted by the committee to continue short-changing the non East Coast/Midwest collectors & dealers.

Being in Idaho I know I am going to have to travel far for any show, it is something that comes with the territory. The East/Midwest guys have never felt the need to conform to a traveling venue, nor do they feel like they should ever have to. They have always had the show in their backyard but I guarantee they would travel every few years if they were to do a Vegas/West coast show every 3rd year or something.

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by theuclakid

yes this is somewhat dictated by the fact most National dealers are from the mid west and east...the expenses to travel to the west are more... secondly the venue has to be large enough and that eliminates a lot of potential areas I have been told...thirdly the time around the end of July and early August has to be available for a venue as that is when the NSCC people like to run it, also the "deal" the NSCC people get from certain venues to host it is important to them (they can make more money) especially like Atlantic City....also the NSCC have to be willing to commit to years in advance to a certain location to get considered...like Baltimore Inner harbor which was a great spot....the NSCC hasn't been willing to do that so that venue has not been feasible since 2012...Baltimore Inner harbor is a popular convention spot

I am from the west coast but the national hasn't returned here since 2006

Bruce Perry

National dealer

And some places ask the NSCC to guarantee an insane amount of hotel rooms. Trust me, it's not as easy as we would prefer

This thread is now a dozen years old and some of the posters, including Mike Berkus, are no longer with us but the themes are well the same

https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...ht=Mike+Berkus

[conor912]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Oh my! Non-Fungible Black jack.

Count me in.

…and here I thought NFBJ was something else the whole time.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

The National schedule is between Chicago and AC the next years. I was recently talking to a few dealers about the National being in another location in the future (South, West). I was told that is not happening per the National Board members 

Any reason why? I would think having a National in either Florida, Texas, Nevada or California would be beneficial and expand the growth of the show.

Let’s take for example Las Vegas:

- Allows collectors on the West Coast to attend.
- Plenty of hotels, parking, convention center, and close to a major airport.
- Brings in big money on a daily basis.

What do you think?

Don't be surprised if Cleveland gets back in the mix in a few years.

[SteveMitchell]

Perhaps the NSCC needs a rival. The time may not be right (at the moment) but the National League got some competition from the upstart American League after a single season operating as a minor league (1900) and by 1903 it had toppled the National from its perch as the Best in Baseball. Could the AMERICAN Sports Collectors Convention repeat the A.L.'s rise to the top?

No doubt the current practice of rotating between the east coast and midwest allows the most collectors to attend but other large metro areas could certainly put on an excellent show and return the National to being truly NATIONAL.

What's this business about the Federal League? Just an attention-getter. I would actually propose the AMERICAN Sports Collectors Convention as the NSCC's 21st century rival. But at 72 I'm too old to seriously do anything about it.

[Exhibitman]

Nobody is going to take the risk on a start-up show until COVID is in the rear view mirror. I did three local one-day shows with two other collectors and it was a ton of work and we lost money every time. I am definitely interested in doing it again and trying to build something for the longer term but not with the uncertainty over public gatherings that we have right now.

[buymycards]

So, I know this will never happen, but why can't there be 2 National Conventions per year? The Rosemont is always sold out and there are 100's of dealers who would like to set up, but the "legacy" dealers (many who seem to still have the same inventory that they had in the 1990's) have all of the spots locked up.

Maybe we could see some new dealers, with fresh inventory. There are plenty of dealers from the Midwest, the South, and from the West Coast who could take the place of the dealers from the east coast who don't want to make the trip.

[Exhibitman]

That's sort of what Comicon has done with the regional shows.

[theuclakid]

Cleveland's IX center was sold to new owners and has reopened to hosting conventions....I believe this fall already....dont know if the NSCC has contacted them yet about hosting the Nationals again in the near future

I would love to see 2 or 3 large shows a year to encompass the west, midwest and east areas of the country......

there hasn't been a National convention in Texas since 1995 (Houston) or in the south at all since Atlanta in 1999

Bruce Perry

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by buymycards

So, I know this will never happen, but why can't there be 2 National Conventions per year? The Rosemont is always sold out and there are 100's of dealers who would like to set up, but the "legacy" dealers (many who seem to still have the same inventory that they had in the 1990's) have all of the spots locked up.

Maybe we could see some new dealers, with fresh inventory. There are plenty of dealers from the Midwest, the South, and from the West Coast who could take the place of the dealers from the east coast who don't want to make the trip.

there were a few dozen booths awarded to new dealers at this year's lottery. I know because I got the 2nd to last one! If that is any indicator there is more turnover than most people realize

[25801wv]

I would vote Las Vegas!