Venues in Atlanta and Detroit have been named finalists to host the 2028 National Sports Collectors Convention, the NSCC confirmed to cllct Thursday.
The event’s management team is expected to make a presentation to dealers at the 2025 NSCC, which takes place in Chicago from July 30 to Aug. 3.
The NSCC confirmed to cllct a decision is expected to be made around Sept. 1.
The Georgia World Congress Center, which has 1.5 million square feet of exhibit space, is the proposed venue in Atlanta. The center is located near the home venues for the Atlanta Falcons and the Atlanta Hawks as well as the College Football Hall of Fame.
Atlanta and the World Congress Center hosted the NSCC in 1999 and 1992.
Huntington Place is the proposed venue in Detroit, and features more than 700,000 square feet of exhibit space. The outdoor terrace of the venue overlooks the Detroit Riverfront.
Though Detroit has never hosted the NSCC, the convention’s second show in 1981 took place in Plymouth, Mich., which is a suburb of Detroit.
“The National management team takes great pride in our research into the location of possible cities and convention centers for our amazing event each year,” the NSCC management team said in a statement to cllct.
“We use a multi-step process to help identify the initial list of locations. Our process for the 2028 site selection started with over 20 different convention centers in various locations in the United States covering major cities from coast to coast.”
The convention is scheduled to be hosted in Chicago for three consecutive years in 2025, 2026 and 2027 following 2024’s event in Cleveland. Chicago was selected by dealers to host the event in 2026 over venues in Atlantic City and Atlanta.
The convention has largely alternated between the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., and other cities over the last decade-plus.
Since 2000, the NSCC has been held in Rosemont 10 times, Cleveland seven times, Atlantic City three times, Baltimore twice and Anaheim twice. The 2020 convention, which was planned to take place in Atlantic City, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the Collectibles Editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.