09/01/2026
๐๐ญ๐๐กโ๐ฌ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ซ: ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐
๐๐ง๐ฌ
Gregg Birkner established himself as one of ๐๐ญ๐๐กโ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฌ, producing collector events that gave fans rare, in-person access to prominent athletes across football, basketball, and baseball.
Among the headline guests were ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ-๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ฌ: Washington Redskins standout ๐๐ข๐๐ค๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ, San Francisco 49ers star ๐๐ข๐๐ค๐ฒ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ, Denver Broncos ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ and Raiders tight end/running back ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ง. Gregg also brought Raiders legends ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง๐ค, ๐๐ง๐ ๐
๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐จ๐๐ to shows.
His basketball lineups included two of the NBAโs top six overall draft selectionsโ๐๐ก๐๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌโalong with Hall of Famer ๐๐ข๐๐ค ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ and perennial All-Star ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ง. Utah Jazz fans had opportunities to meet ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ฒ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐จ๐ง๐. Additional featured guests included baseball personalities ๐๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐๐ก.
One particularly memorable appearance at South Towne Mall (known affectionately in 1991 as the Ghost Mall) featured ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ and generated such a large crowd that the Dairy Queen owner personally came over afterward to thank Gregg. He said it was the first time the Food Court had ever had lines of people waiting to order.
Greggโs knack for building athlete-centered events, attracting crowds, and serving serious collectors caught the attention of eBayโs National Customer Support Division. He was recruited as ๐๐๐๐ฒโ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ซ and later became one of its early ๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฌโbringing his promotional experience and customer-service expertise to the rapidly growing online collectibles marketplace.
