FanFinity Expo coming to Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale this fall

Fans of pop culture and sports can mark their calendars for Dec. 5 and 6 as FanFinity Expo hits Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale. This new event is set to draw close to 80 celebrities from TV, film, music and sports for meet-and-greet experiences that include signings and photo ops plus vendors, artists, panel discussions, sports memorabilia and a cosplay contest.

"So far we have Katey Sagal from ‘Married... With Children,’ Curtis Armstrong from ‘Revenge of the Nerds,’ Dennis Rodman from the Chicago Bulls, Dean Cain from ‘Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,’ reality show star Kendra Wilkinson, pro wrestler D-Von Dudley and more are going to be announced in the coming weeks," said co-producer Frank Patz of Bay Shore in a recent interview. "We hope to make this a staple on Long Island."

Patz typically holds his annual Eternal Con event, which was originally scheduled for July 11-12 at Hofstra University’s David S. Mack Complex in Hempstead, then the dates were moved to Sept. 12-13. However, this year had to be canceled.

"When we bring in celebrity guests, we need to book 35 hotel rooms for multiple nights. In July, there was a big lacrosse tournament happening in town and rooms were over $500 a night [prices are typically $189-$220] plus we couldn’t get them," Patz said. "When we moved the dates to September, we weren’t able to book the celebrities we wanted and I refused to put on a lackluster show, so we canceled."

However, Patz promises Eternal Con is going to return next year. For FanFinity Expo, he partnered with Tommy Unger, of Staten Island-based Big Event NY. Unger operates a biannual entertainment and sports expo at Suffolk Credit Union Arena in Brentwood called Big Event EXS, which is happening Nov. 14.

"Frank comes to my shows and we’ve kept in contact over the years," FanFinity Expo co-producer Unger said. "We both run events on Long Island and the opportunity came to partner together, so it just made sense."

Patz added, "Tommy didn’t have the structure for the type of shows I do. I’m bringing in all the vendors, artists and cosplayers whereas he is delivering the celebrities and sport memorabilia."

Unger, a serious baseball card collector, owned an ice cream shop in Staten Island. During a slow season in 2008, he brought in pro wrestler Matt Hardy for a signing to increase business.

"I had 500 people show up," Unger said. "Suddenly, I started bringing in more athletes to the shop to do signings. Then the shop closed but the signings took off and it became my full-time job. Now I typically do 30 to 40 shows a year."

Together Patz and Unger are working hard to make FanFinity Expo an enjoyable experience for Long Islanders to cap off 2026.

"This event is really going to be a mix of everything we both do," Unger said. "When you have that many celebrities together it creates a buzz in the room."

By David J. Criblez

david.criblez@newsday.comDavidJCriblez

David J. Criblez is a reporter for Newsday's exploreLI, covering entertainment-related events from local music to stand-up comedy to festivals.