SGMA To Split Annual Super Show Into Two Smaller Shows

By Terry Lefton, Editor-at-Large

This month’s annual industry show of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) will be the 21st and last Super Show. After years of flagging attendance, followed by the withdrawal of some of the top athletic footwear/apparel brands and sports properties, the SGMA will opt to go with two smaller shows in ’07: the SGMA Spring Market, slated for June in Las Vegas, and the SGMA Fall Market, scheduled for October at a location to be determined on the East Coast. For years, retailers, brands and licensees have said the Super Show’s January timeframe did not fit with their buying patterns, and the recent consolidation of sporting goods retailers and manufacturers made the need for the Super Show less important. “With so much consolidation, the question with all these (trade shows) was whether you could justify the expense, which is considerable,” said Susan Rothman, VP/Consumer Products at the NFL, which has not had a booth at the Super Show for several years.

LOOKING AHEAD: The two new SGMA shows are designed with the industry’s changes in mind. The June show will feature products for holiday sales, while the Fall show will highlight goods scheduled for spring delivery to retail. The shows will also be targeted at small- and mid-sized companies, and the Super Show name, once symbolic of the largest show in sporting goods and one of the largest trade shows per se, is being dropped. SGMA President Tom Cove: “We need to send a message that we are going in a different direction to be responsive to changing dynamics within the industry. The Super Show didn’t evolve with the industry, so we’re letting it run its course. The kind of over the-top investments we used to get at Super Show from companies like Nike was wonderful at the time, and it was a reflection of the growth and energy of the industry, but times have changed.”

NOMADIC LIFESTYLE: After an extended run in Atlanta, during which brands growing within the burgeoning sneaker business tried to outdo each other with complex booths and displays, the Super Show has been more nomadic in recent years. After a three-year run in Las Vegas from ’01-03, the show has been in Orlando for the past two years. North Miami-based Communications and Show Management Inc., which has run the Super Show since its inception, will not be associated with the two new shows, Cove said.