Promising 50th NASGW Expo Tees Up ’25 Business

The 2024 National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) Exhibits and Annual Meeting — held Oct. 16–18 in Kansas City — was marked by two overarching questions: Who will be sitting in the White House come Inauguration Day in January, and how will the market respond?

Well, one of those questions has already been answered decisively. In the wake of a Republican trifecta of wins in the White House and both chambers of Congress, the second question remains — how will the market respond?

We sat down with NASGW President Kenyon Gleason, who reflected on the impact of the 50th NASGW Expo, as well as the trends observed even before the election outcome was confirmed.

“The 2024 show went phenomenally well as we celebrated 50 years of Expo,” he said. “Leading up to the show, there was a good level of concern going in with the election and whether or not people would be buying, but that actually proved to be the opposite of what transpired. A lot of very positive meetings took place and we sold out again this year.”

Gleason shared the feedback received from exhibitors had consistent themes.

“We heard time and time again about the value of show, the interest from buyers and a cautious optimism of what the future was going to be like for our industry,” he said.

The Expo’s footprint is set up for a more relaxed environment — giving buyers two and a half days to connect with potential new partners.

“A number of new companies shared they were impressed with how many interactions they were having with distributors and even other manufacturers for potential partnerships and things like that,” Gleason noted. “One of the great benefits of the Expo is you really get to network with all facets of the industry. And you have the time to develop those relationships.”

While welcome, Gleason was surprised at the levels of optimism expressed by attendees.

“There was a lot of optimism about where things are going and the future looks like,” he said. “Which was surprising, again, as the market has been so down this year in contrast to what it had been and people were nervous about where things were going. There seemed to be a sense of renewed optimism in the industry.”

Continued Success With “Elevator Pitches”

Introduced at the 2021 NASGW Expo, first-time exhibitors are given the opportunity to present a three-minute “elevator pitch” to buyers, sales rep groups and other manufacturers in the hour before the Expo’s official start.

I’ve had the opportunity to witness this event in each of the years since, and it has become a must-watch event to discover up-and-coming companies in the industry. Gleason shared this has been an unmitigated success.

“Adding that feature has been the most successful development we’ve done at the Expo,” he contended. “The opportunity for our new exhibitors to quickly share their elevator pitches with all those distributors has been remarkable. The feedback we get from distributors and manufacturers is unanimous — they love it.”

SCOPE Program Update

The NASGW SCOPE data initiative is a suite of data-driven tools that collect, analyze and distribute information to strengthen businesses in the shooting sports — using data from manufacturers, wholesalers, point-of-sale providers and dealers. It has evolved into a vital source of information for industry companies to reference.

At the NASGW Expo, the SCOPE team hosts an annual update to share the trends they’ve observed in the market.

“It’s the one time of year where we can share what’s happening in the market to non-subscribers,” Gleason said. “The numbers we showed were a little surprising to some people. At that time, we had already observed a shift in the market in August and September. We’re still down overall compared to last year, but it’s not as ‘doom and gloom’ as people thought it was.”

Gleason pointed out the first assassination attempt on President-Elect Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., July 13, created a noticeable uptick in sales in the SCOPE data.

“This sales bump carried into August and September, and then the start of the fall hunting season further elevated sales,” he said. “We’re not going to be breaking any records this year by any stretch, but there are still segments in the market — even in a down market — that are doing well.”

Planning For 2025; Changes Coming In 2026

The 2025 NASGW Expo & Annual Meeting will be held Oct. 15–17 in Grapevine, Texas, at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center — returning to the area for the first time since 2013. The 2020 NASGW Expo was scheduled for Grapevine, but the pandemic resulted in the first (and only) cancellation of the Expo in its history.

“The 2025 Expo is our makeup show for the one we lost in 2020,” Gleason said. “We’re happy to be visiting Texas once again.”

Looking ahead to the future of the NASGW Expo, Gleason shared a significant shift will take place in its 2026 iteration.
“Starting in 2026, we will be changing the days of our show,” Gleason said. “It will still be held in October, but instead of a Tuesday–Friday format, we are moving the show up in the week to a Monday–Thursday schedule.”

Under this new format, Monday night during NASGW Expo week will feature the Annual Appreciation Dinner, with the Expo being held Tuesday–Thursday. Gleason shared this change is a result of the feedback NASGW has received from exhibitors in recent years.

“We’ve discovered people’s habits and preferences have changed, and Friday during the Expo ends up being a really tough day for us on the show floor,” he said. “A lot of people like it, as they use the last morning to see folks they hadn’t seen — but a significant number of people want to leave Thursday night.”

He continued, “We always survey and over the past 5–6 years here, we’ve seen more and more people tell us having the show end on Friday was becoming more challenging for them. We needed to do something moving forward.”

According to Gleason, this move will have additional benefits to enhance the Expo.

“What we hear from convention centers and hotels is because of the way our show was structured, it was becoming increasingly difficult for us to find space to accommodate move-ins and move-outs.”

Under the current format exhibitors needed two weekends for set up and closing down. A Monday–Thursday schedule would require only one weekend — which would open up more venues for the Expo to consider, beginning in 2026.

Fresh off 50 years of Expo excellence, Gleason shared plans for the 2025 event are in full swing.

For more info: nasgwexpo.org.