Ah yes, the age old wrestling trope – putting the two guys who are about to face off in an upcoming match together in a tag team. The announcers bang the table and say “This could break down any moment! Can these two guys work together? Can they co-exist?” This common storyline has been done so many times, that its now a meme-worthy cliche.

At the NSCC, I think it fits. On the floor of the show, dealers and collectors commonly face off trying to get deals done to move cards both ways. Although rarely contentious like its played out in WWE, its something that has brought so much challenge to the show, that collectors have started to find ways to circumvent the confrontation all together.

With the boom of 2020 taking hold at big shows across the country for the last few years, trade nights have become the draw as much as the show itself. For some collectors who dont have funds to straight up buy the cards they want, but plenty of equity in their collections, trading becomes a worthwhile experience for them to drive their time on their trip.

Dealers have major objections to this situation, because of the sheer cost it takes to set up at any show. Whether its the table cost, inventory cost, travel costs, or staff, the entire show can be an extreme expense. To lose potential business to collectors coming to the show who can do the same thing with no overhead is frustrating.

This has created a standoff that could be on the verge of exploding as we approach NSCCs coming down the road. Table costs are high, booth setup costs are higher, and collectors are not responsive to seeing prices on cards that are 50%-100% above the recent selling prices on eBay. On the flip side, its close to impossible to wall off the show to a point where trade night is a big attraction, and shutting them down might be worse press than high prices on the floor.

At this year’s NSCC, impromptu trading at the Loews hotel had to be stopped by the police as the giant crowds of collectors congregating in the hallways and conference rooms created fire hazards and inconvenient walkways for the staff and guests. The official NSCC trade night, hosted by Roadshow Cards and CardCollector2, was so packed with people – it spilled out into the lobby where people were waiting in line to get in. There were a number of complaints about waiting in line and just overall crowds.

These situations are extreme enough to warrant a discussion of how to fix this issue. How do you appease the throngs of people who want this experience as an outlet during their trip, while at the same time not step on the toes of dealers who spend 5-6 figures for their booths on an annual basis?

Here are some suggestions from people I talked to at the show with my comments:

24 Hour Trade Space – Give Collectors a space to have a trade night going through the whole show. Just a room that exists there and you can come and go as you please. Personally, this would be an ideal solution, but there are a few things to think about. First security needs to be provided, and that’s extra cost, same with the extra space. The access all day and all night with bathrooms and food/drink might be a challenge, but theoretically, this could be done in a hotel space.

Hourly Booths at the Show – Give people an option to purchase slots at the show to set up on an hourly basis, without having to incur the cost of the entire week. I think this is a really interesting idea to explore. The NSCC could offer perks to VIP or Super VIPs by offering them time at the show to set up their own table as part of the cost of their badge. Again, space would be an issue if you saw the amount of VIPs, but it could be something that people could just purchase on their own. Specific rules about buying too many slots, bots buying all the tables, or reselling the purchased slots would be an absolute requirement, but this could be a way to solve for some of the issues.

Offer Official Trade Night Every Night – I personally think this is a must. Right now there is trade night on Thursday, and that’s it. Finding a way to offer it every night might cut down on the issues with crowds a bit, and create sponsorship opportunities to offset costs. The sheer lift to do one night is huge though, and the planning to get that one night off the ground must be immense. Expanding it to the whole show could be an undertaking not available.

Reduce Corporate Space in Favor of More Booths – I think this was suggested the most times by people I talked to. For the most part, corporate booths for people not offering giveaways were empty. It was wasted space. However, this funding is likely a good part of the way the show makes money. So taking away this space would be taking money away from the bottom line. I dont think this is a feasible suggestion for any business looking to turn as much profit as they can. As a community, we all agree with moving space away from Goldin, Sports Card Investor, and Grading Company ABC and letting more people set up, but I dont think it will solve issues with pricing of single cards on the floor in the slightest.

Reduce the Cost of the Booths – Honestly, I dont think the majority of the cost people have is booth cost. Its what goes in the booths. Signage, cases, staff, travel, inventory, etc. Its all overhead. For people that do the NSCC well, its a six figure cost. Reducing the cost of the booths wouldnt really do much there, but adding a low rent district might help some collectors have an opportunity to set up that wouldnt normally do so.

Allow Collector Planned Trade Nights to Thrive – I really think there is some way to allow trade nights to be unaffiliated and also not impede the results of the show. People are going to come whether the trade nights are there or not. That’s the barrier here. If the NSCC cancels all trade nights, and gets all the bad press around that, the show still goes off and likely still sets records. I think the discussion around lost opportunity cost of MORE people not attending because trade nights arent thriving is a big point of order among the entirety of the community. Dealers want more people at the show so they have more people to sell to. Collectors want more opportunities to acquire their wanted items. Its a win win, but a loaded one. At least this option might keep people out of the hallways to an obstructive degree.

Again, there is no one size fits all solution to this. None of these solutions have 100% pro and zero con tied to their success. Its going to be a give and take from both sides, of which Im not sure there will ever be a peaceful resolution with both sides being 100% happy. I think everyone would agree that impeding a hotel lobby to the point of being shut down by police is not the experience anyone would like.