The Game Manufacturers Association has chosen a new home for the GAMA Expo. Due to rising attendance, this tabletop convention, one of the largest in North America, will come to Baltimore in the future.
The GAMA Expo Location Change
In a report by Board Game Wire, GAMA’s site selection committee chose Baltimore out of 30 potential cities as the future venue for the GAMA Expo. According to a representative, the expo had doubled in size since 2023. The last year held at its original venue in Reno, Nevada, resulted in over 2,000 attendants.
As a result of this growth, the GAMA Expo was moved to Louisville, Kentucky for their 2024 and 2025 conventions. While this choice was made based on historical data, attendance blew past the organization’s original projections. The attendance of this year’s expo rose to 3,420.
This venue change will not happen immediately. GAMA signed a three-year contract in Louisville for 2024 to 2026. An extension was made to 2027 as part of the city recognizing the organization had outgrown the footprint available across the original dates. That means that, for the time being, the GAMA Expo will be in Louisville until that contract expires.
The Game Manufacturers Association is one of the largest tabletop organizations in the US. They are a vocally progressive organization, suspending known alt-right grifter Jon Del Arroz from their ranks and expressly opposing the disastrous US trade tariffs on Chinese imports.
The fact the GAMA Expo continues to see growth in attendance and talent is a welcome one in the tabletop industry. It is one contrasted with the harsh realities of publishers shutting down or filing lawsuits amind a volatile present and uncertain future. However, this does show that there is still a passionate community willing to give more creative talents a voice and platform.