New organisers of ISPO, the influential trade event for the sporting goods, outdoor and winter sports industries, have unveiled the agenda for the new Leaders’ Summit which will feature IIC – INTERSPORT International Corporation CEO Tom Foley and World Cup and Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn among experts taking to the stage.
First hosted in 1970, ISPO now welcomes over 50,000 global attendees annually and, starting from 2026, enters a new chapter led by Raccoon Media Group, in partnership with Messe München.
This year at the show in Amsterdam in November, Vonn and Foley will join Jimmy Chin (filmmaker and mountaineer), Celine Del Genes (decathlon, Global Game Changers), Hap Klopp (founder, The North Face), Professor Laura McAllister (vice-president of UEFA), Andy Rubin (deputy chair, Pentland Group), John Lacy (CEO, Burton) and Pia Heidenmark Cook (former group chief sustainability officer Ingka/IKEA).
The new ISPO Leaders’ Summit will be an exclusive C-suite conference uniting senior executives, policymakers and changemakers from across the sports ecosystem. Foley and Vonn will be among the experts sharing their insights and experience via keynote speeches, fireside chats and panel discussions, debating pressing issues such as fair trade, participation, and sustainability.
Lindsey Vonn is the most successful female alpine skier in history. Winning gold in downhill skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Vonn also has four World Cup Championships and a record eight World Cup season titles to her name. She is one of six women who have won World Cup races in all five disciplines of alpine skiing – downhill, super-g, giant slalom, slalom and super combined. She also recently came out of retirement to rejoin the US Ski Team and has her sights set on the 2026 Winter Games.
Vonn said: “There are so many parallels between competing at a high level and leading a business. I’m looking forward to joining the Leaders’ Summit in Amsterdam and connecting with the people behind the brands we all love.”
Mike Seaman, group CEO of Raccoon Media Group said. “The Leaders Summit will see a veritable Who’s Who of the industry share decades of experience. There is very little that our speakers haven’t seen or experienced and we’re honoured to have them all attend and share their learnings, insights and knowledge. The Summit is an event not to be missed.”
Raccoon Media Group and partners Messe München have committed €3m to reimagine ISPO from 2026, with €1m of this investment allocated to content across the Summit and Expo.
“ISPO 2026 will be so much more than a trade show.” said Kate Jamieson, Racoon Media Group’s content director. “ISPO will meet the needs of the head, the commercial side of what makes our industry vibrant, profitable and thriving. However, we will place equal focus on the heart. Why we do what we do, what drives us every day and what inspires people to move. This will be reflected in the content too, important business insight, coupled with a healthy dose of fun!”
ISPO’s content investment extends across all the three days of ISPO2026. The Expo will feature multiple visitor activations such as a Rail Jam outside the RAI with stunts and demos, the ‘Screen to Summit’ interactive Climbing Wall, Summit Sprint, The Runway, Avalanche Simulation, Shop of the Future and VR Powder Run to name a few. The event will feature four show floor theatres which will deliver educational content, while some ISPO favourites remain too, including the Functional Clothing Swap and BrandNew, a Dragon’s Den style pitch zone for start-ups.
Several fringe networking events will also take place hosted by the leading industry associations which form the backbone to the sporting goods, outdoor and winter sports sectors.
“We are curating an immersive, interactive experience across the three show zones which ensure all attendees walk away engaged and inspired. Ultimately, every component of ISPO 2026 is designed so that attendees leave feeling they’ve experienced something special, and that their time and investment were well spent.” Jamieson adds.
Photo: Courtesy of HEAD Sportswear
Source: www.exhibitionworld.co.uk
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