Strong, stronger, China! The message of ISPO Beijing is clear: trade fairs are back - and the sports industry is booming worldwide! 368 leading brands and 223 exhibitors* attracted 37,623 trade visitors and sports enthusiasts to Beijing. The fair, which took place from February 10 to 12 in China, is celebrating its greatest success: an incredible 50% increase in visitors compared to last year! And proof that trade fairs are, after all, the place where great things happen!
It is exactly the signal that the industry needs and wants to send: Sports and outdoor are a hopeful market that can finally be celebrated again together with brands, industry professionals and sports enthusiasts. With success! And this after a global pandemic, supply problems and threats to existence. Xu Jia, CEO of Messe Muenchen Shanghai Co, Ltd, is pleased with the successful re-launch: "Three years ago, ISPO Beijing 2020 was the first show to be postponed due to Covid-19, and three years later it is the first show to return."
Exchange ideas, find inspiration or negotiate directly with business partners*: As the first real major event in the new year for the sports lifestyle industry in the Asia-Pacific region, ISPO Beijing 2023 showcased market trends, innovative products and technologies, supply chain solutions, and functional textiles and materials across a wide range of sectors in the industry, including snow sports, outdoor sports, camping lifestyle, climbing, running, cycling, land surfing, and yoga.
Tobias Gröber, Head of ISPO Group, on the successful re-launch in Asia: "With ISPO Beijing 2023, we want to show the diversity, inclusion, and sustainability of the sports lifestyle industry. This is also the concept ISPO wants to convey to the world. The sports lifestyle is diverse and its target group is growing fast. Companies and brands need to meet the different consumer needs while maintaining a flexible strategy. Therefore, they need to develop products that are more inclusive in design, material selection and performance to enable a positive interaction between them."
ISPO Beijing asked itself four big questions this year: What can sustainability look like in the mountain sports industry? How can the outdoor sports trade survive in the trend of large market structures? And what about sports fashion trends and sports rehabilitation? The trade fair not only provided answers, but also new perspectives so that retailers and brands can respond to new changes, demonstrate innovative spirit and develop new values.
Innovations, courage and new technologies - that was not only the motto for the exhibitors, but also for ISPO Beijing itself: In order to really reach everyone - also digitally outside the exhibition halls - ISPO Beijing was streamed live for the first time on Tmall, Little Red Book and Tiktok. A clear sign from the trade show that the sports and lifestyle industry must continue to develop and break new ground in order to exist in the long term in this fast-moving market. Only those who try to reach consumers with the help of social media and new channels have a chance of success and presence in all segments of the population. Whether customers, sports professionals, or brand decision-makers, those who are bold will win in all target groups.
Since 2020, ISPO Beijing has been postponed several times. The next ISPO Beijing will take place in January 2024 at the National Convention Center in Beijing. ISPO Shanghai 2023 will open its doors this year: from June 30 to July 2, 2023 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. There will be even more outdoor inspiration at OutDoor by ISPO from June 4 to 6 in Munich.
It is clear what the industry needs and wants after a three-year break in order to start even stronger together into the future:
ISPO Beijing 2023 is very eye-opening for me. Many automobile brands are interested in cooperation with the sports industry. I believe their partnership can create a market that is larger than the two markets combined.
If I have to describe the sports and outdoor market in the near future, I would say it’s “Chun Tian (spring)”. We have been looking forward to the opening of ISPO Beijing for three years and decided to participate as soon as it resumed. Participating in an exhibition can open up a world, and it is an important opportunity for us to grow and develop.
In 2023, the outdoor market will make further progress, and all outdoor brands will have a bigger market. ISPO Beijing 2023 has brought me a lot of surprises. We are very much looking forward to ISPO Shanghai.
Super Bowl, World Championships, groundbreaking industry events and the first Ironman in Nice - we've started a crazy sports year 2023. Here we reveal where the sports business is headed and at which events history will be made.
With ISPO.com, you'll be right in the middle of the most important sports events in 2023, won't miss any insights, and will be informed about the latest trends in the sports business.
Kickoff for the new year! It all starts with the legendary Four Hills Tournament. In addition, the tennis elite starts the season in Down Under at the Australian Open and the women jump the exciting conclusion at the Ski Jumping World Cup.
Time for the biggest show on earth: the Super Bowl in Arizona! And it doesn't just move football fans, but the whole world beyond sports.
ISPO Beijing officially ends the Corona break for the Asian sports world and also brings exciting impulses for the European sports and outdoor market. Also of interest to the sports business: INHORGENTA, where innovative wearables such as sports watches will be presented alongside jewelry.
Winter sports are over, Formula 1 is now the order of the day, and the racing cyclists are getting into the saddle for the one-day classic Milan-San Remo. In India, a new boxing queen is crowned.
At the Sport & Outdoor Media Daywhere OutDoor by ISPO is also an exhibitor, media and brands meet to discuss the latest product developments and the future of the industry. And a look at Austin/Texas is also worthwhile: The sport can also learn from SXSW 2023, where technology and culture meet. Megabrands like Patagonia and exciting startups from all over the world included.
Life is not a sprint, but a marathon! Boston, London, Paris, legendary, feared and yet beautiful. In London, running is not only on the streets. At Wembley Stadium, the national teams of England and Brazil meet for the women's finalissima.
May is the month of decisions. The men's and women's national soccer leagues crown their champions, the tennis elite come together in Paris Bercy for the French Open. And on the other side of the globe, the surf pros ride the wave toward the world championship title in El Salvador.
In June, the time has finally come again: Summer vibes, exciting connections, the latest trends and insights from the outdoor scene - OutDoor by ISPO is a must for the outdoor and sports community.
Plus: In Istanbul, the new kings of Europe will be crowned at the Champions League final, while the women battle it out in Eindhoven. 350 miles through the Flint Hills in Kansas, mud, rain, gravel! That's Unbound Gravel Race in Emporia, an absolute highlight of the cycling scene.
The Tour de France starts this year with the Grand Depart in Bilbao in the Basque Country on its 3400-kilometer journey. In Wimbledon, the showdown of the tennis scene is on the agenda.
From July 20, the DFB women start their mission to win the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Their first group opponent is Morocco on July 24, and three days later the German women will face Colombia.
In August, the trail running elite will take on the dreaded 171-kilometer Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in Chamonix, also covering 9963 meters in altitude. In Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines, basketball world and European champions Spain start their mission to defend their World Cup title.
And on ISPO.com, we take a look at sporting events in general in our August spotlight. How risky and lucrative is merchandise at sporting events? What new forms of sports tourism are there? And what about the rights business?
In September, the Ironman community will meet for the first time in Nice and the running elite will come together at the Berlin Marathon. There is even more action in the Diamond League. The finals of the competition series will take place in the athletics mecca of Eugene, Oregon.
And the sports business is looking ahead to several events from which it will benefit and which will set the direction of the sports industry: the IAA Mobility with the mobility concepts of the future, the Bits&Pretzels and the European Outdoor Summit.
Take the last bit of summer with you: The beach volleyball players compete in Mexico and the legendary Ironman in Hawaii takes place. Plus, the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Belgium and the Chicago Marathon.
Towards the end of the year, things get really exciting: ISPO Munich, the largest trade fair in the sports business, is just around the corner. And with it, brands and exhibitors from all over the world, inspiring speakers, the latest product innovations, growth opportunities for the hottest start-ups, and plenty of networking opportunities.
Outside the halls, the New York Marathon is the highlight of November. Formula 1 and the tennis world take one last turn, and for the biathlon stars the wait for the World Cup starting gun has finally come to an end.
In December, the sports world gathers and we take stock: What moved the industry in 2023? What trends have emerged and what will happen in 2024?
The Darts World Championship at the Ally Pally in London is definitely entertaining and no less legendary. And in Oberstdorf, the starting signal is given for the Four Hills Tournament.
If you think eSports has only been around for a few years, you're wrong! The cornerstone of video games was already laid in the 50s and with it the competition on PC or console. Only the technological progress at the end of the 90s made video games suitable for the masses. Increasingly better hardware, graphics and the expansion of the Internet around the world have helped cybersports develop into a major sport. ISPO.com reports.
The early days of competitive computer games date back to 1952. At that time, computer scientist Alexander Shafto Douglas was working on his doctoral thesis on the interaction between humans and computers in Cambridge and came up with the idea of implementing the game "XOX" - better known to us as "Tic-Tac-Toe" or "Three Wins" - as a computer game. However, the human always played against the computer and could only determine who started.
The first actual multiplayer game was presented in 1958 by the then head of "Instrumentation Higinbotham" at the open day. It was called "Tennis for Two" and allowed two people to play against each other. The game was played with an early form of the joystick, which allowed players to hit the ball over the net and adjust its trajectory. Today, this title is considered by many to be the birth of eSports.
It would be a few years before the first eSports-like tournament would exist. The space game "Spacewar!" had already been written in 1962 on a PDP-10 computer by computer scientist Steve Russel and some colleagues like Martin Graetz and Wayne Wiitanen of the "Tech Model Railroad Club" at MIT. In it, two players play against each other with one spaceship each. Interestingly, the spaceships already had a limited supply of fuel and ammunition and had to fight against the gravitational field of a planet.
It is considered the world's first digital computer game and was named one of the ten most important computer games of all time by the New York Times in 2007. But on October 19, 1972, the time had finally come: the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Stanford University hosted the world's first eSports tournament, the "Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics." Twenty-four players met on this day to compete in "Spacewar! Incidentally, the winner at the time received a year's subscription to "Rolling Stones" magazine. The circle of people playing the early games was still limited to universities and similar institutions, since they had the technical facilities.
With the introduction of the "Magnavox Odyssey" in 1972, the first game console appeared that could be connected to a TV. Even though it was rather awkward to use - the playing field had to be glued to the TV in the form of a template in order to play - this console made digital gaming suitable for the masses.
In addition, arcades were subsequently established, which made it possible for the general public to play games on machines such as Pong. However, the competitive nature of the game only became possible with the introduction of permanent high score lists. One of the first machines to feature this option was "Sea Wolf" from 1976.
In 1979, two machines appeared, Asteroids and Starfire, which for the first time enabled gamers to immortalize themselves in a high score list with a personal name code. Since only a few machines offered the possibility to play against each other, these lists became a measure of the player's skill. With Space Invaders, Atari laid the foundation for the world's first major eSports tournament in 1978.
The early gaming classic was played at the 1980 Space Invaders Championships by over 10,000 gamers competing to win a version of Asteroids. On October 10, 1980, William Salvador Heineman was crowned the winner of the challenge. He was thus the first winner of a national video game competition.
The next steps in the direction of eSports again came from the USA. The arcade operator Walter Day from Ottumwa in the state of Iowa founded the first referee service for video games on 09 February 1982 with the "Twin Galaxies National Scoreboard". The background was a story in Time magazine in 1982 about how 15-year-old Steve Juraszek set a record in Defender. Walter Day, however, knew a young player in his arcade who had beaten that record by far.
After consulting with machine manufacturer Williams and game developer Namco, he learned that there was no national leaderboard for Defender or any other video game - the initial spark for the creation of his service. Incidentally, the name Twin Galaxies is derived from the name of his own arcade. In addition to maintaining a national record list, "Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records" was soon designed as a universal set of rules to prevent possible cheating by cheats or the like.
In 1983, he founded the U.S. National Video Team, the first professional gaming team in the world. He also organized the North American Video Game Challenge, the first video game masters tournament in the United States. Thanks to his extensive efforts around the topic of "video games", he can confidently be called one of the pioneers of eSports.
In Germany, Armin Stürmer founded the "Atari VCS Bundeliga" in 1982. A community project, which soon aroused the interest of Atari Germany due to the fast growing number of members. Here, various clubs competed against each other in four rounds and different games according to a fixed set of rules. The players were given a time limit of 15 or 30 minutes to score as many points as possible. The "German Champion" was determined at the end of the year. But already three years later Atari dropped out as an official partner and the Bundesliga was probably also discontinued in the same year.
In 1988, Netrek was released, the first multiplayer computer game that up to 16 players could play against each other over the Internet. It was a real-time strategy game in the Star Trek universe. The players take on the role of the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans or the Orions and have to conquer a galaxy consisting of 40 planets. Netrek was played all over the world, but as in the early days of video games, it was mainly scientists, above all computer scientists, who fought hot battles, since it was mainly scientific institutions that had access to the early Internet.
At the beginning of the 1990s, Nintendo had also recognized the phenomenon of competition and organized the "Nintendo World Championships" in the USA in 1990. The winners of the competition, which was held in three age categories, received golden Nintendo gaming modules. The games were a triple-header of Super Mario Bros, Rad Racer and Tetris.
Blockbuster Video, a well-known video store chain in the USA, organized a world championship for video gamers in 1994 in cooperation with the American GamePro magazine. The tournament was held on the Super Nintendo and the Sega Mega Drive - games played included Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Virtua Racing.
In the 1990s, it became clear that the future of competitive gaming would be found on PCs and in the network. As hardware became cheaper and more powerful, PCs became interesting for private households and thus also for the games industry. In the mid-90s, the first large LAN parties started, where gamers could compete with each other. But it wasn't just on a large scale that gaming via the network was becoming increasingly fascinating, especially on a smaller scale. More and more gamers met at small network sessions and played their favorite games.
From these meetings emerged the early clans that would drive professional play. For soon these teams competed against each other in the larger tournaments. With the advance of networking and the possibility of private Internet connections, the previous regional restrictions also fell away. Games such as Doom, Quake, Unreal Tournament or StarCraft are now an integral part of eSports history. They laid the foundation for playing against each other - whether in a team or alone.
As a result of this development, the first eSports leagues were founded towards the end of the 1990s: For example, the Electronic Sports League, which emerged from the "German Clan League" (DeCL), or the "ClanBase", which was launched in 1998.
The popularity of the topic in Germany was demonstrated in 1999 by the "Gamers' Gathering" in Duisburg. Here, more than 1600 players from all over Europe gathered to compete against each other in various games. In South Korea in particular, eSports was professionalized with the founding of the Korean e-Sports Association (KeSPA) in 2000, which from the very beginning focused on the possibilities of marketing eSports on TV.
And yet another highlight of 1999 favored network gaming against each other in teams: Counter-Strike. The game was released on June 19, 1999 and was the result of a small team of students. The gameplay revolves around the fight of an anti-terrorist unit against terrorists on a limited map. The game is played in rounds of five minutes each. The game spread rapidly and became a real multiplayer hit - and is still one of the most successful games in eSports history.
Thanks to developments in South Korea, the first "World Cyber Games" (WCG) were held here in Seoul in 2000. In 2003, the first Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) was played in Poitiers, France. The so-called "Grand Final" of this tournament was played in Paris in the summer. While the initial focus was on PC games, console titles were gradually included in the competition canon. Halo 2 is particularly worthy of mention here, which has played a pioneering role in console gaming since 2004.
In 2005 , the"CPL World Tour" (Cyberathlete Professional League) was the first eSports event to be endowed with one million dollars. The game played was Painkiller, which was indexed in Germany at the time. The entire series was held in ten cities around the world and ended with a final in New York, which was broadcast live by the music channel MTV. The winner of the tour was the Dutchman "Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager", who earned a prize money of over 250,000 US dollars - while the winner of the final was the US American "Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel".
And finally, the "Championship Gaming Series" (CGS for short) caused a sensation in 2007. The competition was held for the first time that year and offered prize money of over one million US dollars. Together with the associated player salaries of around five million US dollars, this resulted in the most expensive eSports tournament of all time.
In almost 70 years of computer gaming history, eSports has now established itself in many countries around the world. As a result, prize money has increased significantly, events are growing every year, and even eSports betting is offered. From a small niche, it has become a multi-media billion-dollar market that is now attracting many investors.
Soccer can pack it in! Esports is the new big global mass phenomenon that not only has fans traveling the world, but also spending millions on sports merchandise and souvenirs. The most recent major event, the League of Legends World Championship, drew thousands of fans to Mexico City, Atlanta, New York and San Francisco. Completely sold out stadiums, a huge sporting event for the cities and a real money spinner for sponsors & celebrities! What can traditional sporting events learn from the super newcomer Esport? We'll show you how to reach the young audience at sporting events and stay attractive to stakeholders. Here are our 5 learnings from the biggest esport event.
For five weeks, 24 teams from 11 regions competed in 127 games for the coveted "Summoner's Cup," the League of Legends World Championship trophy. In the end, the winner was Team DRX from South Korea. But the main winners were above all the organizers. Tickets for all match days were sold out immediately, and established brands such as Amazon, Mastercard and Tiffany & Co were willing sponsors and partners of the event. But also long-standing sponsors of classic sports such as Mercedes-Benz and Red Bull have long recognized the potential of Esports and expanded their involvement in this new sport. In 2021, the World Cup final already reached 73.9 million viewers, and the organizers expect a significant increase in 2022.
While Esport is now considered a popular sport in China and large parts of Asia, the new sport is also gaining ground in Europe and the USA. Andreas Bergmann, Professor of Sports Management, states: "The movement, which used to be referred to pejoratively as "kids gambling in the basement", has now developed from a niche phenomenon into a worldwide mass phenomenon. Globally, there are now said to be more than 500 million Esport enthusiasts and the community around the game League of Legends is also estimated to have several million followers worldwide." Furthermore, he is sure that especially the young, advertising-relevant target group of 14- to 29-year-olds, who are hardly reachable by advertisers in other ways, is fascinated by the Esports phenomenon.
Hans D. Gurk, founder and CEO of social media agency Fellowkids, which specializes in Esports, was live on site for the entire five weeks at the Worlds and had behind-the-scenes insights into the events as he and his team followed the tournament on the official League of Legends social media channels. "Although we have been professionally covering the League Worlds for years, Riot Games manages to set new milestones every time - especially the spectacular arenas, the experience for spectators on site and at home as well as unique music acts make this event an unforgettable experience for all players, fans and sponsors involved."
While esports particularly excite young target groups and draw tens of thousands to arenas around the world, organizers in traditional sports often find it very difficult to generate similar enthusiasm - or even to generate their own best practices through innovation.
So how must a (sports) event of the future be conceived, planned and implemented in order to remain attractive to the young target group and numerous other stakeholders such as sponsors and the media? Here are 5 lessons learned from the world's biggest esport event:
Traditional sports are also already picking up on the first "co-streaming" ideas. During the World Cup, for example, streamer Pascal Gurk commented on MagentaTV to get GenZ excited about soccer as well.
Why not do more of the same for the Bundesliga soccer league, the Biathlon World Cup, or the World Athletics Championships? This year, the traditional Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel was also attended by TikTok star Khaby, who unites over 160 million followers and has over 80 million fans on Instagram, and high-reach track and field athlete Alica Schmidt, among others, in order to get previously less skiing-savvy people excited about the event and the sport via social media posts.
Even if esports take place digitally: Nothing beats the live events that continue to draw tens of thousands of fans to the world's great arenas. Ticket sales have proven that the stars of the scene have enormous appeal: Within minutes, the World Cup was sold out. Esports fills some of the world's most legendary venues, such as the Beijing Olympic Stadium (2017) or Madison Square Garden (2016, 2022).
Major cities worldwide have recognized the esports trend and are actively bidding to host events in their arenas: Figures from Riot Games show that the European League of Legends final alone contributed 2.4 million euros to Rotterdam's tourism in just two days, and longer events are all the more worthwhile for host cities.
The esport follows the principle: "Go to where your fans are", and brings the League of Legends World Cup in rotation to the four major regions of its playbase: Europe, North America, China and South Korea. While the NBA arenas in North America were the venue this year, South Korea, the motherland of esports, will be the host again in 2023. The goal here is to give as many fans as possible experiences and touchpoints with the game, as these live experiences increase the bond with the fans even more.
The great success of this concept can also be seen in traditional sports: The first NFL Game on German soil in Munich's Olympiastadion was a huge success, and they have also been filling arenas in the UK with this guest game for years. The principle of "Go to where your fans are" or even "Go to where you can build new fanbases" would also be an interesting approach for the international relevance of local sports leagues.
These five learnings show why esport events always achieve new records and reach, as well as economic success, year after year. Prof. Bergmann suggests: "However, these approaches and ideas should not be adopted blindly or 1:1 from esports to traditional sports, but should always be individually adapted and modified to suit the target group.
Those responsible must always question what suits their own sport or the respective event and also appears attractive to the corresponding target group - otherwise negative experiences such as those caused by Helene Fischer's appearance at the DFB Cup final can happen."
Identifying suitable partners who go along with these innovative concepts and paths and authentically share one's own vision is also a critical factor for success.
By taking into account the five success factors and lessons learned from esports, new types of (fan, sponsor and marketing) potential can also be tapped in traditional sports and the respective sports and events can be successfully positioned for the future. It pays to be brave!
This article was written in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Andreas Bergmann, Professor of Sports Management at the Euro-FH and COO at a sports management agency in Kitzbühel, and Hans D. Gurk, founder and CEO of Fellowkids, a Berlin-based agency specializing in Esports marketing.
First climb up the mountain, then powder down: ski touring has long since ceased to be a niche sport for alpine cracks. What makes the community behind the sport tick? What do they expect from their winter sports brands and how has the market changed?
We take a look back at how ski touring has developed in recent years and tell you what trends are on the horizon for 2023.
At the ski touring preview in Hochfügen (with ski tour to the hut evening sponsored by
by ISPO), retailers and buyers, brands, the media and the
community come together to exchange ideas about the latest trends - and we were
were right in the middle of it for you. Here are 4 trends in ski touring.