The '12 Int'l Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas opens today poised to challenge or set event records, even amid an uneven economy. The show, produced by the Consumer Electronics Association, has sold more than 1.851 million square feet of event space to exhibitors, second only to the '08 CES which featured 1.857 million square feet of exhibits. Attendee pre-registrations are sharply above last year, suggesting that the audited attendance for the '11 event of 149,529 people could be surpassed.
ESPN is involved in unprecedented fashion at this year's CES, staging its first ever booth on the show floor and holding a number of high-profile events this week. The network held an invitation-only party for several hundred industry execs last night to watch the BCS National Championship game in 3D, while "SportsNation" will be filmed tomorrow from the show floor in 3D, marking the network's first studio show to be shown in the enhanced format. Thursday will bring the staging of five Top Rank Boxing matches from the CES show floor, also shown in 3D.
