ROSEMONT, Ill. — The backlog of cards yet to be graded by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) and the pause of more affordably priced card submission tiers already served as one of the industry’s prime issues leading into the National Sports Collectors Convention last Wednesday.The discussion surrounding PSA snowballed by the end of the show Sunday.First, PSA announced earlier this week an increase in the company’s backlog of cards submitted for grading to 12.4 million after it previously went from 15 million when PSA began limiting its most affordable grading service levels in June to 11 million.When the National opened on Wednesday, the cheapest on site service (where cards are graded and returned at the event, avoiding the usual process of shipping cards to and from PSA’s offices) offered by PSA was $230 per card graded. Despite that price point, there was still record-setting demand and by Thursday, the industry’s largest trading card grading company had to announce a pause to that service tier as well, leaving the cheapest option at $400 per card before halting submissions for on-site service entirely. This angered many customers, some of whom attended the National primarily for those on-site services. Customers who had already submitted cards were initially told they’d receive them back graded at the National, only to have PSA backtrack to say some customers will have them sent back weeks later.PSA president Ryan Hoge canceled a scheduled in-person interview with The Athletic at the convention set for Friday through a spokesperson, saying Hoge had been pulled away for operational matters. Hoge sent responses to some questions via email Sunday.“The demand for grading at the National exceeded our most ambitious projections, with submitted items up 160 percent from last year,” Hoge said via email. “When we saw demand exceeding our capacity at the show, we adjusted service levels. First, by closing our lowest tier of on-site service, and then by not accepting any additional on-site grading submissions, while continuing to support those at the show by accepting orders that would be graded at our facilities and shipped back to our customers following the show.“As a result of those service adjustments, we were able to grade 99.5 percent of items submitted for on-site service. And to those customers for whom we were unable to complete same-day or next-day on-site turnaround, we apologize and have provided reduced-price service levels with free return shipping.