Successful Toronto Sport Card Expo Not Just for Hockey Cards, Collectors
The Sport Card Expo in Toronto attracted a record crowd and proved that Canada’s biggest card show is not just about hockey cards and collectibles.
It was once billed as “the world’s biggest hockey show,” but the Sport Card Expo in Toronto is now much more than that.
The Expo, held twice annually in the spring and the fall, is Canada’s largest sports cards show. The most-recent Sport Card Expo took place on Nov. 9-12. While most dealers had quite a bit of hockey cards and memorabilia for sale, there was certainly no shortage of baseball, basketball, football and non-sports cards.
“People in Canada don’t only collect hockey,” says Mike Bergman, owner of Lower Level Sports Cards in Winnipeg. “People collect all sports — anything that has a card, even pop culture. It’s about collecting what they like and what’s in their mind from their childhood.”
Dealers from the U.S. who traveled north of the border also tend to shy away from bringing too much hockey with them.
“Here, I bring more of everything else but hockey,” says Chris Worczak, owner of Niagara Sports Cards in Niagara Falls, N.Y. “Everybody has hockey here. So, I’m going to bring the stuff that’s different, like vintage baseball cards.”
The Fall 2023 Sport Card Expo was the largest since the show first began in 1991. Not only did it boast a higher attendance, but the show was physically bigger, taking up just under 200,000 square feet across three halls at the International Centre in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga.
Sal Barry is the editor and webmaster of Puck Junk. He is a freelance hockey writer, college professor and terrible hockey player. Follow him on Twitter @puckjunk
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The Sport Card Expo in Toronto attracted a record crowd and proved that Canada’s biggest card show is not just about hockey cards and collectibles.
