Sporting Goods Gets a Workout at New Show

Las Vegas—It was definitely no Super Show, but SGMA Spring Market will be back, and better, next year, organizers said.

The inaugural event for the sporting goods industry featured 354 exhibitors filling 115,000 net square feet of the Sands Expo & Convention Center June 11–13. A total of 8,922 people attended, according to Charlie Greco, president of Universal Event Management, which produced the show for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Assn.

Universal and the SGMA prefer to downplay the new Spring Market's role as successor to the association's former Tradeshow Week 200 heavyweight The Super Show, which took place for the last time in January 2006.

That show dropped from 804,364 net sq. ft. and an estimated 1,000 exhibitors and 20,000 professional attendees in 2004, to 250,000 net sq. ft. and an estimated 700 exhibitors and 20,000 professional attendees in 2005, the last time it reported statistics to TSW.

Still, some exhibitors in the new Spring Market had The Super Show on their minds, as they looked for something to replace their industry's only national event.

"Everyone was on the fence" about the Spring Market, Kimberly Desto, trade show coordinator for New Balance, said. "This was a 'Let's see what happens' kind of show."

Desto and others weren't sure what to expect, but many hoped for better attendance.

Chuck Blumenthal, CEO of natural fitness, was looking for a bigger crowd to witness the launch of his new line of environmentally friendly yoga products.

"We did really well the first day," Blumenthal said, but overall, "we maybe achieved 50 percent of our goal" in terms of sales and leads.

At 2 p.m. the third day of the show, nobody was available to speak to TSW from some flagship companies like Asics and Everlast, because exhibit personnel had packed up and left.

Showfloor hours that day were scheduled until 4 p.m., part of the problem, according to Blumenthal, who said he'd like to see management cut the hours.

Greco said reducing showfloor hours was part of the plan for the next event. Although it's already scheduled June 9–11, again at the Sands, cutting a day from the exhibition is also under consideration.

Greco admitted he, too, was disappointed with the turnout. He'd hoped for 8,000 buyers and registered closer to 6,000, he said, attributing the shortfall in part to the show's being a new launch in a challenged industry.

"Monday, it was very brisk," Greco said. "What happened was, we had a lot of attendees who thought that, since this was a new show, they would just check it out it in one day, so they got in and got out."

He said next year's attendance marketing would focus on the fact that SGMA Spring Market is a three-day industry event, with an expanded conference, the most successful element this year.

He said the show would also develop its cooperation with Team Athletic Goods, a buying group that held its annual event adjacent to the Spring Market showfloor. TAG generated lots of interest, Greco said, but it restricted attendance to members, something he's hoping to change.

"We're going to give the retailers more reason to come," he said. "It's a buying show, yes, but we want you to come and learn about the challenges and opportunities of sporting goods retailing too."

Those challenges are likely partially responsible for the Spring Market's slow start, but SGMA believed there was also opportunity in the growing specialty retailer market.

Greco said the board told him to focus on four core competencies for the show — fitness, footwear, team sports and athletic apparel — in order to avoid presenting a watered-down, all-things-to-all-people event.

Some felt the strategy worked.

For instance, Brian Anderson, president of fitness equipment maker Sportline, said, "All our important buyers were here. All the major buyers were here, as well as some smaller ones."

He's happy that the SGMA decided to launch its new show in Las Vegas.

Like many of those who spoke with TSW, Anderson plans to be back next year, because he believes in supporting the industry's trade group and its show.

Desto, who had faxed in her contract for next year, said she'd use the grace period for cancellation to analyze results from this year's show, but would probably be back.

New Balance won't be alone. As Grant Scheffer, of exhibitor Socci said, "To get into (sporting goods) retail, is there really anything else?"