PSA Opens New Texas Facility as Their Backlog Reaches 12.4 Million Cards
PSA recently announced the opening of its fifth global grading facility in Plano, Texas, as the company continues to expand to address record demand. The new facility will be critical for helping PSA catch up on its backlog of 12.4 million cards, an increase of 1.4 million cards since its last update on July 14, 2026.
The Plano facility adds critical grading capacity and holds personal significance for PSA President Ryan Hodge. On PSA's news page, Hodge explains:
“As a Plano native, opening this facility in my hometown means a lot to me—and it comes at a moment when it matters most for PSA and for the hobby. We continue to see record demand, and Plano expands our grading capacity to help us meet it. At the end of the day, our collectors trust us with the items that matter to them, and that trust is exactly why we're investing to scale.”
Investment Driving Expansion
On March 14, 2026, PSA announced a $200 million infrastructure investment to help support global demand. In that announcement, they explained the surge in demand seen in the last few years. Recent GemRate reports show demand has not cooled despite price hikes and longer turnaround times.
The June GemRate report highlighted record-breaking grading volume across the industry, with PSA leading the charge by a wide margin, having graded a staggering 2.5 million cards, up 74% year-over-year.
PSA had already invested heavily in expansion, spending more than $100 million between 2021 and early 2026 to open facilities in New Jersey, Florida, and Tokyo. Despite these expansion efforts, they still couldn't keep pace with demand.
As a result, PSA set out to add more grading facilities and expand their full suite of services, thus the Plano location. With this new space PSA hopes to further scale operations and optimize throughput for card submissions.
PSA will also soon launch PSA Europe in Frankfurt, Germany, which it expects to be operational later this summer.
Focused on Trust and Transparency
To PSA's credit, they've been hyper-focused on maintaining trust with their customers and keeping them informed via social media and their backlog tracker, which communicates updates on the backlog and other changes. Even when the data hasn't been great, like the most recent update on an expanding backlog, they've continued to share the good and the not-so-good.
PSA’s latest expansion efforts represent a major bet that increased capacity can finally catch up with collector demand. If the Plano facility and upcoming Germany hub deliver as expected, collectors could soon see meaningful improvements in turnaround times.
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Conor is a leading sports collectibles writer and market analyst with more than 100 published articles covering sports cards, Pokémon, auctions, investing trends, and hobby culture. A lifelong collector who entered the hobby in the early 1990s, Conor’s expertise centers on vintage and modern basketball cards, basketball icons, and iconic Boston sports memorabilia tied to legends like Larry Bird, Tom Brady, and David Ortiz.