The sport and outdoor sector covers very different realities: consumer sporting goods, technical clothing, outdoor equipment (hiking, climbing, skiing, trail running), connected sports technologies, nutrition, fitness and wellbeing. This diversity is reflected in the trade show calendar, which draws a clear distinction between B2B sourcing events and consumer trade shows.
The key question for an exhibitor: am I looking to open accounts with specialist distributors and retailers, or am I targeting buyers from sports retail chains? These two approaches lead to different trade shows. For a professional visitor, the question is similar: am I coming to source products or to keep up with the latest trends in the sector?
The leading trade shows in France
Sport-Achat is the largest French event dedicated to outdoor sports professionals, organised each January at Alpexpo Grenoble. It is the ordering event where brands present their winter season collections: specialist retailers, resellers and purchasing managers from sports chains come here to place their seasonal orders. Its Grenoble base is no accident: the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region accounts for a major share of the French outdoor industry.
Le Salon des Sports et Parasports (Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, held annually in November) is the event for sport professionals: elected officials, sports facility managers, clubs and federations, and suppliers of solutions and equipment. The next edition will take place from 24 to 26 November 2026. Its Forum Sports & Territoires brings together local authorities and public-sector sport stakeholders. It is the right place for suppliers selling to public sports facilities and professional clubs, rather than to retailers.
Sportem (Paris, Roland-Garros, annual) is the trade show for sports marketing and the spectator experience. It brings together around fifty exhibitors and the main French and European sports rights holders around ticketing, branded content, sponsorship and fan management. A more intimate format, with a highly qualified audience.
Regional and specialist trade shows
The French outdoor sector has active regional clusters. Outdoor Sports Valley (Annecy) and Sporaltec (Grenoble) organise showrooms, business days and collective initiatives at international trade shows, notably the Camp de Base France at the Outdoor Show. For snow sports, ISPO Munich remains the benchmark for setting the order of winter collections, even though its attendance has shifted (see below). Specialist sector trade shows are multiplying: Bike Festival, running events, triathlon events, golf and watersports each have their own B2B gatherings.
The major European and international trade shows
ISPO Munich (Munich, held annually in November-December, Messe München) has historically been the largest trade show in the world for the sport and sportswear industry, founded in 1970. The 2024 edition brought together more than 2,300 exhibitors from 50 countries and 55,000 trade visitors from 113 countries, with 65% international exhibitors and 72% international visitors. It is worth noting that attendance has fallen significantly compared with the pre-Covid period (80,000 visitors in 2019, 3,300 exhibitors in 2018). One point to watch: in 2025 Messe München announced the creation of a joint venture with the British group Raccoon Media Group to run ISPO, with a possible move to Amsterdam. Its trajectory is worth monitoring before committing a stand budget.
Outdoor Show Friedrichshafen (Friedrichshafen, Germany, annual, Messe Friedrichshafen) is the European benchmark for pure outdoor: hiking, climbing, camping, technical clothing. It brings together close to 1,000 exhibitors and 20,000 visitors, with a visitor base heavily concentrated in the German-speaking arc (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). For French brands, it is the entry trade show into the German outdoor market, the largest in Europe.
FIBO (Cologne, held annually in April, Reed Exhibitions) is the largest trade show in the world for fitness, wellbeing and health, with more than 1,100 exhibitors from 50 countries and 130,000 visitors. It covers gym equipment, sports nutrition, connected fitness technologies and solutions for club operators.
Beyond the trade shows
The sport sector is structured around the sporting federations (FFF, FFR, FFN, FFA, etc.) and the CNOSF, which run their own professional events. The French sporttech ecosystem is coordinated by Sport numérique and the regional clusters (Outdoor Sports Valley, Sporaltec, Sportlab, etc.). The Assises du Sport, organised by the Ministry of Sport, are the sector's annual political and strategic event. For equipment manufacturers and infrastructure suppliers, local authority tenders remain the main channel for awarding contracts, independently of the trade shows.