GAMA picks Baltimore as new home for annual GAMA Expo, after trade event quickly outgrows new Louisville home

North America’s biggest board games industry trade show, GAMA Expo, is moving to Baltimore after surging attendance numbers left the event straining at the seams again – just two years after the show shifted to Kentucky to handle growing interest.

GAMA’s site selection committee narrowed down an initial 30 cities to Chicago, Minneapolis and Baltimore, with the latter winning out due to its accessibility, affordability and “vibrant local culture”, GAMA executive director John Stacy told BoardGameWire.

The Expo will move to Baltimore Convention Center after GAMA’s contract with the Kentucky International Convention Center, Louisville ends in 2027.

Stacy told BoardGameWire the Expo had nearly doubled in size since 2023, when just over 2,000 attendees took part in the event’s final show at its former home in Reno, Nevada.

The trade organization had booked its current site in Louisville in 2019, basing its growth needs on historical data from across its time in Reno – but “blew past that projection” in its first year in Kentucky in 2024.

Attendance that year rose 37% to more than 2,700, and the number of exhibitors jumped 50% to 300 – and those numbers surged again at this year’s show in February, with more than 3,420 people attending.

GAMA Expo’s tremendous growth is partly down to the trade organisation’s recent push to expand its membership beyond its decades-long remit of representing hobby game publishers, retailers and wholesalers.

That drive has seen specialist events, show areas and seminars introduced in an attempt to better represent professionals from across the modern tabletop industry, including designers, manufacturers, media, events organisers and third-party service providers.

More than 150 designers attended this year’s GAMA Expo, up 47% compared to 2024 – the first year GAMA put on a dedicated designer track – while attendees in the production category almost doubled to 111. Media and events attendees were up 14% to 129, in the fourth year the group has been invited to visit the show.

In the more traditional categories, almost 1,100 retailers journeyed to this year’s event, up 22% on last year, while publisher numbers were up 24% to 240, and the number of booths in the exhibit hall rose from 300 to 350.

But the impact of that growth has been felt on the show floor, and especially across almost 200 seminars and presentations this year, which – as well as providing publishers with a platform to show off upcoming games to retailers – provided insights on everything from international retail and community building to rulebook writing and media ethics.

Many retailers this year complained that publisher presentations were quickly packed out, leaving some attendees not only missing out on the information, but also making it difficult for them to attend the number of presentations required for them to receive their free ‘retailer box’ of products.

That box contains goods worth up to $1,600 in MSRP, and significantly alleviates the cost to retailers of taking time out from their stores to drive across the country and attend the Expo.

GAMA had earmarked 300,000 sq ft of exhibit space for year one in its new home, 50% more than is currently available at the KICC, with room to grow to 500,000 sq ft by year three or four at the new site.

Stacy told BoardGameWire that Baltimore’s central East Coast location “ensures easy travel for attendees, and the city offers a diverse range of accommodations at various price points”.

He added, “Baltimore’s proactive support for large-scale events and commitment to partnering with organizations like GAMA were key factors in the decision.

“We appreciate the strong bids from Chicago and Minneapolis, which made the final decision challenging.”

GAMA site selection committee member John Stephens has written a series of in-depth blogs detailing the group’s work in choosing a new home for the expo, which provide an excellent insight into the process.

GAMA had initially signed a three-year contract in Louisville for 2024 to 2026, but agreed to extend that for a year after the KICC helped GAMA shift the dates of this year’s Expo, after the trade organisation realised it had outgrown the footprint available across its original dates.

That one-year extension was signed despite GAMA’s own prior reservations over remaining in the state, which came in the wake of Kentucky passing a suite of anti-LGBTQ laws in 2023, including a ban on transgender medical treatment for those under 18.

GAMA said in the summer of 2023 that it had looked into scrapping the move to Kentucky in the wake of anti-LGBTQ laws passed by the state – but concluded that the $1.8m cancellation cost would have had a “lethal impact” on the organisation.

The next GAMA Expo is due to be held at the KICC and Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky from March 1 to 5, 2026, with the 2027 event scheduled for March 14 – 18 at the same venues.