ISPO is taking the next step toward the future: the founding of the Retail Club makes the promise of retail friendliness tangible, effective immediately. The offer, exclusive to sports and textile retailers, as well as e-commerce platforms of all sizes, includes curated content, targeted encounters, and genuine innovations. This exclusivity is designed to foster more exchange, more relevance, and a more promising future in retail.
A highly effective offering for sports retailers
With the Concept Release in March, ISPO presented three focal points for the trade fair in November: Retail Friendliness, Media Value, and Matchmaking. Retail Friendliness, a key pillar of the new offer, which is now becoming tangible with the introduction of the free Retail Club.
Membership offers retailers numerous exclusive benefits:
- Free retail ticket
- Access to the Retail Club Lounge, including catering
- Curated, guided tours of the exhibition grounds
- Conference program with best practices and retail know-how
- Direct exchange with industry experts
Participants receive practice-oriented strategies and insights from leading retail experts—directly applicable to their business , empowering them with the knowledge they need to thrive in the competitive retail market.
The Retail Club also offers real added value outside of the event in Munich: all registered retailers receive market insights and updates from the Sports and retail environment.
Those who register now also benefit from a free 2 month subscription to Sporting Goods Intelligence by EDM—the leading source for Industry analysis. This valuable opportunity enables retailers to gain insights and stay ahead of industry trends, thereby enhancing their business strategies and informed decision-making.
The O in ISPO also stands for orientation
With the new concept, ISPO continues its consistent development and seamlessly integrates with the changes already communicated. For over 55 years, the annual sports business event has been the flagship platform for the international sell-in process. The realignment along the value chain, with the Retail Club playing a key role, creates additional orientation for Visitors and supports sports retailers in more efficient trade fair planning.
ISPO offers a unique trade fair experience through the targeted curation of themes, brands, and trends, especially in the search for innovations, providing inspiration and a quick overview at the same time.
The new offering aims to curate a strong, globally active retailer network. The focus is on the direct exchange between retailers, brands, and industry. The integrated matchmaking tool, a feature of the Retail Club, enables targeted contact with relevant partners even before the event, resulting in more efficient meetings, valuable discussions, and concrete Business opportunities.
"Personal interaction is more important than ever—we in our team have also experienced this intensively this year. That's why we will be focusing more on on-site meetings and dialog in the future so that we can work together even more successfully and in a more targeted manner. We would also like to make this central learning experience possible for our visitors. For this reason, we are integrating the conferences and trade fair areas even more closely in the future and creating new platforms for personal exchange," says Lena Haushofer, Exhibition Director of ISPO and OutDoor, explaining her motivation for taking this step.
Formats such as the guided tours or the new Retail Club Lounge will offer space for direct dialog on trends, brands, and innovations—right in the middle of the trade fair. It has never been easier, more convenient, or more efficient to gain an overview and exchange ideas with industry colleagues.
Retail Friendliness is a promise and not just an empty phrase
The Retail Club embodies a clear focus on the retail trade and, at the same time, creates security for exhibitors who want to meet the right retailers on site: "With the Retail Club, we are actively going the extra mile to show our exhibitors: You can rely on us—we consistently deliver on our promises," explains Retail Project Manager Carsten Schürg. "Not only will there be enough retailers taking part, it has never been easier to find the right contacts."
"As the representative body for the European sports retail industry, FEDAS welcomes the new ISPO concept and, of course, the offers for retailers in particular! The Retail Club can serve as a platform for our exchange, learning from national and international players, and expanding our network. ISPO is a MUST for our business," comments Stefan Herzog, President of the European Federation of Sporting Goods Retailers (FEDAS), on the Retail Club.
This year, ISPO will take place at Messe München from November 30 to December 2, 2025. In addition to a new hall structure and an earlier, retailer-friendly date, the trade fair organizers are looking forward to seeing many familiar faces as well as new ones.
