Munich Loses Ispo After 50 Years as the Sports Expo Heads to Amsterdam

Ispo, the trade fair for fashion and sports equipment, is moving after more than fifty years in the German city of Munich. The new location is Amsterdam, which will host the event starting next year.

The next edition of Ipso, scheduled for the end of November, will be the last to be held in the German capital, the Messe München exhibition center said Tuesday. For its next editions, the aim is to bring the event forward to the beginning of the month.

To carry out this transition, Messe München and Raccoon Media Group have created a joint venture that will take over the complete operational management of the event under the leadership of Michael Andrew Seaman and James Douglas Emslie.

The number of visitors had decreased in recent years from 80,000 to 55,000

In recent years, the number of visitors and exhibitors in Munich had declined, reflecting the shrinking trade fair industry in Germany. In 2018, 3,307 exhibitors attended, and last year there were 1,937. The year before the pandemic, the event welcomed 80,000 visitors, a number that has fallen back to 55,000 in 2024.

According to the organization, this move ensures that Ispo continues to be a global meeting point for the sports, outdoor and snow industry, maintaining its role as a catalyst for innovation.

The agreement does not affect the foreign events Ispo Shanghai and Ispo Beijing, which are not part of the joint venture, but will remain in the hands of Messe München.