Emerald Expositions, the company that owns the Outdoor Retailer (OR) convention, reached an agreement to purchase the Snow Industries Association (SIA) Snow Show for $16.7 million. The deal paves the way for officials to move OR to Denver.
The Outdoor Retailer trade show will leave Salt Lake City in 2018. After 25 years in Utah, the show decided to leave due in part to political differences.
And Denver, Colo., is on the verge of landing it. One of the primary obstacles in the path to a Denver-based OR show has been cleared.
On Thursday, SIA sent its more than 1,000 members a memo detailing a deal to sell the Snow Show to Emerald Expositions. The $16.7 million dollar deal will put the show under the same for-profit umbrella as OR.
This matters because SIA has a non-compete contract to host its winter event annually in the Denver Convention Center through 2030. With Emerald Expositions in charge of the Snow Show, it is now free to merge the events or host them separately.
“It’s been a question of when, not if, for a long time. [It’s] a bold move that both industries can benefit from,” said Kenji Haroutunian, the former Vice President and Group Show Director at Emerald Expositions who now runs Kenji Consults.
According to a report by the Denver Post, SIA members must vote to approve the deal. If approved, the “Outdoor Retailer Snow Show” will launch in January in Denver. Summer Outdoor Retailer shows are still being negotiated, and it is unclear if the Winter Market Outdoor Retailer show can merge with SIA or hosted separately.
OR has not yet announced what city will host future OR conventions. Reached today, SIA released a brief statement.
“SIA’s leadership has been discussing over the past year what we can do to to further our mission of helping the winter sports industry thrive,” said SIA spokesman Todd Walton. “We have been exploring any and all possibilities that could lessen the stresses facing the snow industry and are always looking to improve the winter sports business. We don’t have anything further to comment on at this point in time.”
Outdoor Retailer Big Business
The Outdoor Retailer summer and winter market shows bring thousands of businesses to a given city twice a year. It’s estimated to infuse more than $45 million annually into the Salt Lake City economy.
Details Forthcoming
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