What is ISPO?
For over half a century, ISPO has operated as the definitive commercial engine for the global sports and outdoor business. Originally founded in Germany in 1970 as the Internationale Fachmesse für Sportartikel und Sportmode, this premier B2B trade show spent decades dictating trends, forging supply chains, and driving the commercial future of the sporting goods, outdoor, and winter sports industries. For more than fifty years, its story unfolded solely under the stewardship of Messe München.
Today, however, the landscape of the market is evolving rapidly, and ISPO is transforming alongside it. In an agile move to match this new pace, delivery of the event has transitioned to an exciting joint venture between Messe München and Raccoon Media Group. This partnership has sparked a landmark strategic relocation, moving the flagship event away from its traditional home in Munich to the world-class RAI Amsterdam. The choice of Amsterdam is a deliberate nod to the future of the industry, offering superior international travel connectivity to seamlessly unite global buyers, lower operational costs for partners, and immediate proximity to Europe’s major brand headquarters.
This setting paves the way for the upcoming edition taking place 3–5 November 2026, which marks the dawn of a redefined new era. Rather than just another trade show, this event introduces a refined strategic concept that shifts ISPO’s focus toward hyper-targeted global commerce and heavy structural reinvestment, ensuring it remains the ultimate stage where the future of sport is written.
Transformation investment
The transformation of ISPO is backed by a €3 million investment programme designed to strengthen both the commercial and cultural foundations of the event.
This funding is split equally across three key areas:
– €1 million will support non-profit organisations dedicated to protecting outdoor spaces, increasing athletic participation, and safeguarding grassroots sports.
– €1 million is dedicated to a global hosted buyer programme, which will bring influential retailers and brands together to ensure a strong ROI for exhibitors while driving international business connections across manufacturing, ingredients, commerce, and retail.
– Finally, the remaining €1 million will fund a world-class content programme, kicking off with the new ISPO Leaders’ Summit on 3 November 2026. This exclusive C-suite forum will unite senior executives, policymakers, and changemakers around three shared pillars that unite the sporting goods, outdoor, and winter sports industries: Participation, Sustainability, and Fair Trade.
The vision – lasting global change
Driven by a vision of a world where sport and the great outdoors thrive within healthy, protected ecosystems, the ISPO Impact Foundation was launched as a powerful vehicle for lasting global change. Founded by ISPO, this independent Foundation represents a bold statement of intent from an industry that recognises both its profound responsibility and its unique ability to drive real-world impact. Backed by an annual commitment of €1 million, the foundation is dedicated to protecting and restoring the planet’s natural environments while also inspiring wider activity.
By channelling these significant annual funds into critical grassroots and global initiatives, the foundation focuses on ensuring that recreation and physical activity become accessible, welcoming, and inclusive to everyone, everywhere. It harnesses the transformative power of sport to build stronger, more active, and deeply connected communities. Ultimately, the ISPO Impact Foundation turns the collective passion of the outdoor and sports sectors into a tangible force for good, securing a healthier planet and a more vibrant, inclusive future for generations to come.
Andrew Denton, Chair of the Trustees and CEO of the UK’s Outdoor Industries Association, said:
“A healthy natural environment and widespread public engagement in sports and outdoor recreation are vital to the future of our sectors, our communities, and our planet. The ISPO Impact Foundation gives us a powerful, scalable platform to turn this belief into global action, year after year. We are immensely grateful to ISPO for their vision, and we take the responsibility of managing this fund incredibly seriously.
The scale of global demand became clear during our initial June window, which drew 495 unique applications across 75 countries and territories, totalling nearly €18.7 million in funding requests. To ensure a robust process, the Foundation’s advisory council conducted a rigorous evaluation to finalise the successful applicants. We look forward to celebrating their vital work when we reveal the winners at the special awards presentation at ISPO in Amsterdam on 4 November 2026.”