What we learned at The National: The good, the bad, and the smelly

New York Times

2 days ago

When interest in sports cards exploded during the lockdown phase of the pandemic in 2020, sending demand and prices soaring, everyone agreed that it was unsustainable. Once able to go back outside, people would put their cards back in the attic and resume their normal lives, devoid of pictures of athletes on little pieces of cardboard. Well, it's now five years later and that still hasn't happened yet. In fact, by a variety of metrics — sales, industry investment, show attendances, and more — sports cards are bigger than ever before.
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But at the 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, it was something more difficult to quantify that conveyed how this is a space that's still in the early stages of growth. Throughout the five-day event, there was a palpable excitement that filled the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center as a record crowd roamed two floors of tables filled with collectible treasures all day and into trade nights that lasted until the wee hours of the morning. Several area hotels reportedly had to call police to clear out their lobbies that were filled with card enthusiasts making endless deals with each other.
While the financial aspect of the industry has become hard to ignore, dispassionate business transactions don't produce the atmosphere that existed in Chicago last week. These were largely people who just really like sports cards and were beyond excited to be surrounded by others who feel exactly the same way.
Vibes aside, here are The Athletic's takeaways from The National:
The numbers are still going up — Although a specific attendance estimate wasn't provided by organizers this year, they did say there was 'double-digit growth' in attendance from last year's record of more than 100,000 attendees in Cleveland. It definitely felt like the most people ever. Now, part of that was providing more space: 650,000 square feet up from 500,000 last year. But even that didn't feel like enough. It was virtually impossible to walk through the crowd jammed in between the 75 dealer tables in the upstairs portion of the show.
Cards are holding kids' attention — Last year in Cleveland, many people we spoke to commented on how many kids there were with cases full of cards, wheeling and dealing and leading their parents around. It was becoming clear that this wasn't just a hobby for old men. This year, there were even more kids. The kids trade zone area, where children could make deals with each other in a central location, was bigger than last year and absolutely packed. It was great to see so many kids interacting with each other, only using phones and tablets to check price comps for their deals. The other encouraging sight was that there seemed to be more young girls with their own cases full of cards in the mix, too.
Dealers are buying as much as they're selling — A few years ago, if you went to a card show you'd see maybe a handful of tables advertising that they're looking to buy cards from the attendees they're trying to sell to. At The National this year, it seemed like the majority of tables were just as interested in buying as they were in selling if for no other reason than to maintain inventory throughout the show. By Saturday afternoon there were a lot of empty display cases and dealers attempting to buy up cards to refill them.
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Online marketplace trends carried over into 'real life' — Prior to The National, eBay shared some datapoints showing that, on its platform throughout the first half of this year, searches for WNBA, WWE, and F1 cards were all way up from the same time the previous year. That rise in interest for all three was evident on the show floor. Last year in Cleveland, you could find some Caitlin Clark cards in display cases scattered around the show. This year, there was significant real estate devoted to cards of Clark and other WNBA stars. The league is definitely establishing itself within the hobby. The same goes for WWE. There was even a sizable amount of tennis cards on the show floor.
Trade nights are huge — After the show closed each evening, attendees would make their way to another part of the building for the official trade nights, where they would quite literally lay their cards on the table and make deals with each other for hours and hours. For anyone who felt dealers' prices during the day were a bit too high, this was where more favorable transactions were found. Simply put, trade nights are wildly popular events and more of them need to be organized across the country. The interest is there. The first company to find a way to somehow profit from them is going to make a lot of money.
People are willing to wait in long lines just to sell cards to their favorite content creators — Until recently, there hasn't been much media coverage of the sports card industry, leaving a void filled by social media content creators and aspiring influencers. They've filled YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok feeds for years now, becoming celebrities within the collecting community, particularly among the younger generations. At shows they get asked for selfies and autographs, but at The National, the content creator interaction people most desired was a deal. Even though the majority of tables were buying, the longest lines were to sell to the content creators, regardless of whether they were offering the best value or not. It was fascinating to see how much many people value being a part of the show that they normally watch at home.
Fanatics Fest is having an influence — When Fanatics Fest launched in 2024, some felt it could pose an existential threat to The National, but in year two of their coexistence, it seems clear that they can both thrive. Fanatics Fest is more built around experiences and viral moments, with ultra modern sports cards being a piece of a larger puzzle. The National is all about the cards and much more of a home to the vintage card community. That said, The National did seem to try to bring a little more interactivity and get some of the big-name athletes onto the show floor to be seen rather than just being hidden away behind the curtains of the autograph pavilion. Even with the two events taking place just a few weeks apart, attendance proved they can both do well.
It's all about the inserts — Yes, there was a lot of focus on Michael Jordan, Roberto Clemente, and Caitlin Clark cards, but the general interest of attendees seemed to be on a few specific inserts sets, almost regardless of the player. Precious Metal Gems and Panini's Kaboom and Downtown inserts have been wildly popular for years now, and that popularity is not slowing down, even as more and more get produced. But joining them in that surging popularity are the rare Essential Credentials inserts produced by Skybox in the late '90s and early 2000s. Ken Griffey Jr.'s E-X2001 Essential Credentials Now numbered 4 out of 10 produced sold for $280,600 in May to become his most valuable card by a wide margin as Essential Credentials inserts are jumping in value across the board.
Personal hygiene needs to improve — It wasn't all sunshine and roses at The National. Too often it smelled downright foul. There wasn't a good reason for it, either. Temperatures were pretty mild outside and the air conditioning functioned well (unlike the last time this venue hosted), keeping it cool inside. And yet, there were far too many whiffs of BO assaulting the senses. More people's collecting journeys need to include regular showers and use of deodorant.
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The breaker area was a different kind of grimy — Online breaks are a huge part of the industry now and the area of the show floor carved out for live-streaming breakers felt like a casino with all the bells and whistles and shouting used-car salesmen types employing questionable tactics to get people to buy in. It stood in stark contrast to the more casual vibes around the rest of the space. While this segment of the hobby isn't going anywhere, maybe it should exist more separate from everything else.
The memorabilia business keeps chugging along — The recent criminal investigation and suicide of admitted fake autograph dealer Brett Lemieux made headlines and raised concerns about the legitimacy of any given piece of sports memorabilia. There were a number of dealers selling autographed memorabilia at The National, but the scandal didn't seem to be of much concern to attendees. Maybe that will change when more details on the investigation comes to light and the sole source of information about the scale of the operation isn't just a Facebook post from someone apparently intent on bragging about their misdeeds. The dark side of the industry is always there just below an increasingly happy and shiny surface, but most collectors seem very good at compartmentalizing their childlike enjoyment of the hobby with the risks lurking around the corner.
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