Skip to content
MarketScale
‹ Back to IndustriesSports & Entertainment

Trade Shows Are Back, and That Means Quality Connections for Fitness Vendors

Key Points: For EGYM, the virtual trade show experience is efficient but lack the interpersonal experience you get from see old friends, colleagues, and fitness vendors at in-person trade shows. A smaller trade show at IHRSA 2021 has helped EGYM connect with more potential buyers. The small trade show size has led to more…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Sports & Entertainment teams put it to work with Events & Onsite Capture.

Share

Get featured

Want to get featured in MarketScale Sports & Entertainment?

Create a free MarketScale workspace and get your company's expertise featured across our Sports & Entertainment coverage. No credit card, no demo required.

Request an invite

Key Points:

  1. For EGYM, the virtual trade show experience is efficient but lack the interpersonal experience you get from see old friends, colleagues, and fitness vendors at in-person trade shows.
  2. A smaller trade show at IHRSA 2021 has helped EGYM connect with more potential buyers.
  3. The small trade show size has led to more quality discussions between EGYM and clients about their products, and how they can impact potential clients’ businesses.

Commentary:

The past year and a half has been a tough one for trade shows, with very few if any taking place across the country. For many who attended IHRSA 2021, being able to participate in an in-person trade show was almost like going to a trade show for the first time again. One company in the larger fitness space, EGYM, was excited to be back in the trade show setting, solely due to the close interpersonal connections that they value within their company, according to North America EGYM General Manager Dana Milkie. MarketScale’s Justin Honore talked with Milkie about that feeling of returning to in-person trade shows and how IHRSA 2021 has been a perfect place to speak with quality fitness vendors about their Fitness Hub technology.

Abridged Thoughts:

Zoom meetings have allowed us to be more efficient, but they have also created this distance that we have between people being back in person. Being able to hug people, like our CEO likes to call us the hugging company.

The ability to see old friends, people that you have known for years and actually hug them, say “hi” and connect that way is, you know, it feels so good. Seeing old friends and many new friends is a big part of trade shows. But let’s be honest, the most important thing is the product that is being showcased.

Video TranscriptExpand ↓

Those were some of the sights and sounds of this year's irsa trade show. Good news for you. Market scale was there in person and we are bringing you content from all angles of the trade show. The past 18 months have certainly been long ones with very few and if any, trade shows taking place at all. So for many at the irsa, 2021 being able to participate in all in-person trade show was almost like going to a trade show for the first time again. One of those companies, e! Gem, was excited to be back just because those close interpersonal connections is what that company represents, according to North America general manager Dana Melky. Zoom meetings have allowed us to be more efficient, but they have also created this distance that we have between people being back in person. Being able to hug people like our CEO likes to call us the hugging company. The ability to see old friends, people that you've known for years and actually hug them, say Hi and connect that way is, you know, it feels so good. Seeing old friends and many new friends is a big part of trade shows. But let's be honest, the most important thing is the product that is being showcased. Jim had on a full display of their fitness hub machines that utilize this technology and unique way that provides the users with data that really helps them understand their body and what it needs in certain exercises. With such an innovative machine, being able to pitch to the right client is key. McKee says this year's trade show has really pushed that quality over quantity when it comes to potential buyers. So what's out on the floor today is the typewriter where we believe we can lead the industry is to the computer through technology, through digitizing the fitness floor, through creating a connected, engaging experience for members. So personalized personalization digitization are huge parts of what we're able to bring and what we're showcasing. This is what the trade show experience is all about, something that you can't really replicate on Zoom. But for more 2021 irsa content, be sure to head the market scale as well as subscribe.

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Sports & Entertainment starts with a company putting its venue operators, production crews, and partnership teams on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Rights holders and partners back the operators they know, and coverage is how they get to know yours.

Get your team featuredSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.

Follow Sports & Entertainment Insights

Get new expert content in your inbox.

Sports & Entertainment: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Sports & Entertainment buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. See how AI describes your company today, and where competitors show up instead.

Free workspace

You just read one Sports & Entertainment expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your venue operators, production crews, and partnership teams into the articles, video, and social content Sports & Entertainment buyers are searching for. Create a free workspace and see it with your own people. No credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What you get, free

Your own MarketScale Studio workspace
One video edit a month, on us
AI writing, editing, and publishing tools
In-platform coaching to learn the system

More Sports & Entertainment Insights

SBJ's Tech Awards: Winners Span Data, Performance, Fan Access

SBJ's Tech Awards: Winners Span Data, Performance, Fan Access

Sports Business Journal's fourth annual SBA: Tech awards, held in May 2026, named winners including Elevate's EPIC data platform, Plantiga, OneCourt and Retailcloud. The ceremony also recognized TGL's multi-vendor tech stack and individual executives.

  • 01OneCourt's haptic tablet converts live game-tracking data into vibrations for blind and low-vision fans and won Sports Technology of the Year.
  • 02Elevate's EPIC platform covers consumer insights, ticketing and property analytics across data from 450 million individuals and 1.7 billion devices.
  • 03Plantiga's AI-paired insole sensors for athlete rehabilitation and load management are approved for in-competition use by NBA, NFL and FIFA.

Sep 12, 2026

Pre-World Cup Forecast Projected $135M in Lost Naming-Rights Value

Pre-World Cup Forecast Projected $135M in Lost Naming-Rights Value

In June 2026, before the FIFA World Cup concluded in July, a Navigate analysis commissioned by Sports Business Journal projected that U.S. stadium naming-rights sponsors would forgo up to $53.5 million in domestic media value and $134.8 million globally because of FIFA's clean-stadium branding policy. The figures were pre-tournament estimates, not measured post-event results, and no post-tournament data has been reported.

  • 01Navigate's projections, published by Sports Business Journal on June 12, 2026, estimated pre-tournament what naming-rights sponsors would forgo in media exposure during the World Cup.
  • 02FIFA's clean-stadium policy required host venues to be free of existing commercial branding during the tournament, which concluded in July 2026.
  • 03MetLife Stadium, which hosted eight matches including the final, had a projected loss of $15.7 million to $19.7 million in combined U.S. and international media value against an $18.5 million average annual naming-rights payment.

Sep 12, 2026

Pollstar names winners of 2026 Excellence in Concessions Awards

Pollstar names winners of 2026 Excellence in Concessions Awards

Pollstar published its 2026 Excellence in Concessions Awards on Sept. 2, naming winners across categories including new menu items, technology, sustainability and special-event food programs at venues such as Yankee Stadium, Honda Center and Kaseya Center. Winners were chosen by Pollstar's editorial staff with industry input.

  • 01Pollstar recognizes leading venue food, beverage, and hospitality programs in the U.S.
  • 02The awards highlight hospitality projects across the live entertainment business, from stadium concessions to venue bars and lounges.

Sep 11, 2026

Explore More Sports & Entertainment Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Sports & Entertainment.

Browse Sports & Entertainment Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Sports & Entertainment and beyond.

Book a 15-minute demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512