NSGA show folds in a whimper; 'lab' revival in works for 2000

Discount Store News, July 26, 1999 by Mike Troy

CHICAGO - The National Sporting Goods Association has written the final chapter on the slow demise of its annual show, and in the end provided a snapshot of the evolution of an industry.

"This was our 70th show, so it marked for us the end of an era," said Tom Drake, NSGA's vice president of sales and marketing. "The last one wasn't necessarily the best one."

Attendance at this month's event was forecast to be light since it was the last time the show would be held. As it turned out, attendance was even lighter than expected and much of what was presented to retailers in the way of merchandise held a tenuous connection at best to what is traditionally thought of as sporting goods. Vendors of toys, go-karts, party goods and bird houses were mixed among vendors for traditional fitness equipment, team sports merchandise, athletic footwear and sports medicine.

Since most exhibitors expected retailer attendance to be light going into the show, griping about it on the floor was minimal. In fact, some long-time exhibitors at the show and numerous first time exhibitors said the event was worthwhile.

"Even though it is small and it's the last time it will be held, we always come away with people we meet that make it worthwhile," said Alex Tennant, general manager of Superfiight, Inc., a sports toy company that has exhibited for more than a decade at NSGA.

Another satisfied company was first time exhibitor Cool Pooch Products. President Howard Shapiro invented a water bottle that people and dogs can drink out of at the same time. He debuted it in January at the Housewares Show and initially focused on distribution among pet supply retailers.

"[To see products like this] is why people come to the show," said Shapiro, referring to his water bottle.

Other companies were attracted to the event out of an awareness that sporting goods retailers are looking for new sources of revenue. Hallmark's Party Express division was on hand for the first time offering a line of sports-themed licensed party supplies. Greeting card and apparel company IDK Athletics was at the show for its second time after enjoying some success selling a spinner rack of sports-themed cards into several regional sporting goods chains.

Another first time company with perhaps the most innovative product at the show was the German firm Skatewing Sportgerate GMBH. Owner and president Bernt Spengler, an architect by profession, said his 12 years of experience on the German national sailing team prompted him to develop the Skatewing. Picture windsurfing while wearing in-line skates and that's the premise of Skatewing. Spengler was at the show looking for an importer to handle distribution of the product, which is available in different models ranging in price from $180 to $300.

First time exhibitors were oblivious to the low attendance, but in light of what is going on in the marketplace, it shouldn't have been a surprise. NSGA's Tom Doyle, vice president of information and research, painted a fairly gloomy picture of the state of participation in sporting activities during a presentation.

"The growth in youth sports has come almost entirely from female participation," Doyle said. "It is female participants who are firing growth."

Overall, participation in sports is declining among participants of all ages. Twenty-nine of the 52 sporting activities for which NSGA has collected data the past two years showed a decline during 1998.

Decreased participation combined with the infrequent nature in which sporting goods equipment needs to be purchased has hampered industry sales and ultimately lead to the NSGA event becoming an unnecessary expenditure for most vendors and an inefficient use of time for retailers.

The show will take a new form next year under the ownership of Miller Freeman, a San Francisco-based publisher and trade show organizer. The event, to be held June 12 to 15 in Las Vegas, will be called SGB SportsLab Expo & Conference. "It will be more of a working and learning environment," said Miller Freeman spokeswoman Dina Ali.

To make the event more compelling, it was held a month earlier than usual and relocated to Vegas to save exhibitors money on travel, lodging and set-up costs. Companies also are being urged to avoid the type of monolithic "booths" that have become commonplace at the annual SuperShow sponsored by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association and held in the first quarter.