Cardshow Con lands in the Mission City Ballroom at the Santa Clara Convention Center on Saturday, October 3, 2026, and it arrives with one of the biggest autograph headliners a Bay Area card show can book: Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. For San Francisco 49ers fans, a single-day show that pairs a full dealer floor with an in-person Rice signing a few miles from Levi's Stadium is about as local and as legendary as the hobby gets. The promoter pitches it simply: whether you are hunting a rookie card, finishing a set, or chasing your next big trade, this is where the hobby comes together.
Expect a sports-first floor. Dealers at Cardshow Con focus on sports cards and memorabilia, which means deep boxes of NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL singles alongside UFC, boxing, and soccer inventory. With the NFL season a month old, football will be everywhere: 49ers rookies and veterans, Panini Prizm, Donruss Optic, Select, and Mosaic parallels, plus vintage Topps football from the Montana, Young, and Rice eras. Baseball collectors should find Giants and Athletics material from 1950s Topps through modern Bowman Chrome, and basketball tables will carry Golden State Warriors inventory heading into the new season. Graded slabs from PSA, BGS, SGC, and CGC fill the display cases, and signed memorabilia, jerseys, helmets, and photos round out the room. Trading card game singles for Pokémon, One Piece, and Magic: The Gathering typically appear at mixed-inventory tables, but the emphasis here is sports.
Hours are a single session: Saturday, October 3, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The Jerry Rice public signing is scheduled for 3:00 PM. Autograph tickets are sold separately through the Cardshow Con website, and the organizer notes that a general admission ticket is also required when you purchase a meet-and-greet. Published autograph tiers through the mail-in partner start at the flat-item level and rise for jerseys, helmets, and trading cards, with inscriptions and Beckett Witness authentication available as add-ons. General admission pricing had not been posted on the public listing at the time of writing, so check the ticket page before you go.
The Mission City Ballroom sits inside the Santa Clara Convention Center at 5001 Great America Parkway, next to Levi's Stadium and a short walk from the VTA light rail. Ample on-site parking and quick access from US-101 and Highway 237 make it an easy drive from San Francisco, the Peninsula, and the East Bay.
This show is built for 49ers fans, autograph collectors, vintage football buyers, and anyone who wants a sports-focused room without a two-day convention commitment. It is also a strong first show for younger fans who want to meet a Hall of Famer.
Tips: buy your Rice ticket early, because signings of this size sell out. Rice will not inscribe certain phrases and only licensed items will be signed, so read the item rules before you bring anything. Arrive near opening to work the dealer floor before the 3:00 PM signing line forms, bring cash plus a digital payment backup, and pack top loaders for raw pickups. Follow Cardshow Con and Trifecta Sports Collectibles on Instagram for vendor and signing updates.