The December Card Show by the Bay runs the weekend immediately after Christmas — Saturday, December 26 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Sunday, December 27 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park, 950 Lake Carillon Drive, St. Petersburg, FL 33716. Admission is $2, kids are free, and the show fills more than 100 dealer tables.
The post-Christmas weekend is one of the most distinctive editions on the Tampa Bay calendar, and it has its own particular character. Collectors arrive with Christmas money burning a hole in their pocket and new cards they want to add to. Kids who just got their first pack or binder show up wanting to build on it. And a meaningful number of people bring cards they received or rediscovered over the holidays looking to sell or trade. The result is an unusually fluid floor — more trading, more collections changing hands, and more genuinely interesting material appearing at tables than on a typical weekend. If you like the hunt, this is a good one.
It is also a practical outing during that strange stretch between Christmas and New Year when relatives are still in town and everyone has run out of things to do. Free kids admission and a $2 door make it an easy call, and the vintage tables in particular have a way of pulling parents and grandparents into long conversations about the cards they had growing up.
The show bills itself as Tampa Bay's largest sports card show and the dealer base is statewide — sellers come from Miami, Jacksonville, Orlando, Naples, and the Panhandle. Sports cards anchor everything: baseball, football, basketball, and hockey across vintage, junk-wax, and modern, with graded slabs, rookie cards, star and Hall of Fame singles, autographs, relic and patch cards, and numbered parallels. Football is at peak seasonal interest with the NFL playoff picture nearly settled. Beyond sports there is a strong non-sports selection, a healthy Pokemon and modern TCG presence, comics, and sports memorabilia including signed balls, jerseys, helmets, photos, and pennants. Several dealers here actively buy collections, so bring material if you are looking to sell.
The Carillon Park ballroom is one of the more comfortable rooms on the local circuit — just off SR 688 (Ulmerton Road) in the Carillon business district, roughly midway between Tampa and downtown St. Pete with easy I-275 access. Parking is on site and plentiful, the room is climate controlled with wide aisles, and the hotel restaurant and restrooms are right there.
Saturday morning is fullest and the freshest material moves first, so arrive near the 10:00 AM open if you are hunting. Sunday's shorter day is quieter, and the final hours are when year-end pack-out thinking makes dealers most willing to deal.
Bring cash in mixed denominations, a want list organized by set and card number, and penny sleeves and toploaders. If you are selling, sort and roughly price your material in advance and be realistic about condition. Ask before removing cards from cases, handle by the edges, and settle price before a detailed inspection. For table availability or show information, email [email protected] or call or text 813-390-3687.
