For the first time in its 50-year history ISPO Munich, the world’s leading trade fair for sports, will take place in a purely digital format from 1-5 February 2021. With nearly seven weeks to go before the start of the event, many international brands have already registered to present themselves and their products in the Expo Area. In addition, participants can also expect a comprehensive conference program. This is dedicated to a different key topic each day: from innovations and creativity to digitalization and health to sustainability.

Even in a digital format, ISPO Munich is the central platform for the international sports industry. The organisers say. Industry giants such as adidas Terrex, Gore, Mammut, icebreaker and YKK are showing their full trust by engaging fully as event partners. Further notable companies, associations and organizations from all areas of sports are also lending their support, including Deutsche Sporthilfe, the European Championships Munich 2022, the European Outdoor Group and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry.

Conference program on megatrends and business topics

In addition to the presentation of new collections and products in the digital brand rooms of the Expo Area, overarching topics and trends are the focus of the event: The coronavirus pandemic in particular has shown the growing importance of sports and outdoors in society and how they can help to overcome crises. The consequences and benefits for the industry will be presented, interpreted and discussed in the conference program. Each day is dedicated to one overarching topic: creativity, digitalization, health and sustainability. Among the top-class interdisciplinary speakers there are already representatives of the BMW Group, the Deutscher Industrieverband für Fitness und Gesundheit, from Microsoft, Nielsen Sports and YouTube, as well as top athletes, such as the Catalan ultramarathon runner and mountaineer Kilian Jornet.

Overview of the day

The program schedule will follow a uniform model every day: After a short opening in the morning, there will be plenty of time to gain a market overview, maintain and expand networks and discover trends in the Expo Area. From midday, workshops and masterclasses by the exhibiting companies are on the agenda. Following this, there will be presentations, talks and panel discussions on the main stage. All of these program points will take place in front of the specialist audience.

Each day will end with ‘public streams’ for end consumers with a love of sports and outdoors from around the world – from training sessions to product tutorials to live talks.

Initial program highlights

Joining proven and familiar formats such as the award ceremony and winner presentations for the ISPO Award and ISPO Textrends, the interactive live pitch for the title of ISPO Brandnew overall winner will also be on the program. On Monday evening, over the course of the Unveil Night, the ISPO Cup Winner will be announced and more exciting topics with relevance to the economy and society will be covered.

The Running Symposium presented by Runner’s World will provide a thematic deep dive into the topic of running. On Tuesday, the Sports Tech Conference Europe 2021 will take place as part of ISPO Munich for the first time. This will offer valuable inspiration on the interface between sports and technology and is free for all ticket holders.

A program overview is available online, with detailed information on the program and the speakers to follow shortly.

Facts & figures

Date: February 1-5, 2021

Business Hours:

Expo Area (B2B): open all day (24 hours), core hours: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. CEST

Conference (B2B): 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. CEST

Public streams (B2C): 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. CEST

Tickets & Registration: ispo.com/munich/tickets

ISPO Munich Website