80,000 visitors expected for Super Show debut in Las Vegas

Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2001 | 11:03 a.m.

21 shows in one

The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association Super Show, which begins in Las Vegas Sunday, features 21 sporting goods categories under one roof.

Organizers say there are 21 different shows in the event, to be attended by more than 80,000 people. The 21 shows:

The Activewear Show; The Bowling, Billiards & Darts Show; The Cycle Show; The e-Sports Show; The Fitness Show; The Footwear Show; The Golf Show; The Imprint & Apparel Show; The In-Line Skating Show; The International Show; The Licensed Show; The Marine and Water Sports Show; The Outdoor Sports Show; The See It First Show; The Sports Nutrition and Health Show; The Team Sports Show; The Tennis Show; The Trading Cards & Collectible Products Show; The Trophies & Awards Show; The WinterWear Show; and The X-treme Sports Show.

The world's largest sporting goods exposition makes its Las Vegas debut next week, but what historically has been its biggest exhibitor has pulled out of the show.

The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association Super Show will draw 80,000 people to the city Sunday through Wednesday at the Sands Expo Center, the Venetian and Bally's hotel-casino.

By attendance, the show is projected to be the seventh largest convention event in Las Vegas this year. But by square footage of exhibits, the Super Show will be larger than Comdex or the Consumer Electronics Show.

The event, which caters to sporting goods buyers from six continents, is closed to the public.

The 16th annual show will be the first ever outside Atlanta. The North Palm Beach, Fla.-based SGMA -- an association representing more than 3,000 manufacturers of a wide variety of athletic and fitness products -- signed a three-year contract to conduct the show in Las Vegas.

After the 2003 event, the Super Show will take up residence in Orlando, Fla., for three years. After that, organizers expect the show to alternate between Las Vegas and Orlando.

The reason the Super Show left Atlanta is that it has outgrown that city's convention infrastructure.

"We're definitely looking forward to having our show in Las Vegas," said Mike May, director of communications for the SGMA. "Las Vegas presents a lot of out-of-show opportunities to network with the access to entertainment and restaurants. We truly get around-the-clock opportunities to meet with clientele. Its track record speaks for itself."

May said staging the event in Las Vegas is expected to encourage attendance from sporting goods buyers from some of the industry's fastest-growing markets overseas.

"It's tough to make large increases in growth in the industry just in the United States alone because the sports culture already exists here," May said. "The U.S. group needs to be nurtured, but the substantial growth in the industry is going to come from overseas."

He estimated that 20 percent of those attending the show will come from Asia, Europe, Australia and South America. The prospect of attending a show in a western city like Las Vegas makes the trip from Asia and Australia less daunting, May said.

And what will the thousands of buyers see at the Super Show? Thousands of new sports products will be displayed on nearly 1.5 million square feet by more than 2,500 exhibitors, including 250 companies exhibiting in the show for the first time. By comparison, the Comdex and CES shows have exhibits that total around 1 million and 1.3 million square feet, respectively.

The Super Show, May said, will be grouped into 21 different product categories. The SGMA is taking advantage of the large number of resort properties by having a "hotel headquarters" for each major product category.

Among the companies exhibiting at the show will be Razor USA, California Chariot Co. and Total EV, makers of the trendy scooters that have swept the nation, and the XFL, the new professional football league that includes the Las Vegas Outlaws franchise, which will have team logo merchandise on display.

Other exhibitors are well-known names in sporting goods stores: Life Fitness, Schwinn Cycling & Fitness, Spalding, Wilson, Riddell, Buck Knives, Huffy Sports, Rawlings, Franklin Sports, New Era Cap Co., Igloo and Bike Athletic Co., among them.

Among the companies that won't be exhibiting will be ICON Health & Fitness, Logan, Utah, the world's largest manufacturer of fitness equipment.

Last month, ICON announced it was pulling out of the show, a decision the company said was based on the timing of event. When the Super Show was conducted in Atlanta, it occurred in mid-February.

"The show date of mid-February was moved up to mid-January to accommodate the calendar needs of the footwear industry, yet the largest players of that industry failed to rejoin the show," said Scott Watterson, chairman and chief executive officer of ICON.

"The Super Show as a venue is no longer the best option for ICON to present new products and ideas to its customers," Watterson said.

Colleen Logan, director of marketing for ICON, which distributes the NordicTrak fitness machines, said the fitness industry's most important season is right after Christmas when people who have enjoyed holiday excesses are making New Year's resolutions to get in shape.

"January is really, really important to us and to have the show at this time doesn't work," she said. "It's been that way for us for 25 years."

Logan, whose company has 5,000 employees worldwide, said ICON's presence at the Super Show included a 20,000-square-foot display in previous years. She said show organizers made the date switch to accommodate the sports shoe manufacturers, which wanted to unveil the year's product line earlier to get a jump on spring sports sales.

But Logan said the big shoe manufacturers -- Nike, Reebok, Fila and adidas -- haven't returned to the show after disappearing years ago.

"The Super Show is not recognizing fitness as the growth leader of the industry," Logan said.

May said the decision by ICON's management was regrettable, but the show will press on without the company.

"We're sorry to see them go and we wish they hadn't," May said. "But the show moves on.

"The way we look at it, if you're not there, you're not seen and you miss out on an opportunity," May said. "Their (ICON's) departure from the scene is another company's opportunity to steal the spotlight."

The Super Show has other big events planned during the trade show, which opens daily at 10 a.m. and closes Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., and Wednesday at 2 p.m.

The field for the Nasdaq 2001 Sports Product of the Year will be narrowed during the show. One of the convention's signature events, the selection includes the top 30 sporting goods products entering the market next year displayed on www.cbssportline.com. Consumers will vote for their favorites and determine five finalists. The finalists will be reviewed by 1,000 members of the sporting goods trade press who will vote on the final selection.

Another event in conjunction with the show will be a session on marketing to teenage consumers. Sponsored by Sports Trend magazine, the event, called "The Real Deal," will bring consumers 12 to 18 years old to a panel to give their views on what types of sporting goods products they like to buy.

"We're hoping to find what makes the teenage mind tick," May said. "A 13-year-old may not have a lot money, but they have a lot of influence over their parents in what kinds of products they're buying. We want to pick the brains of a significant segment of our market."