SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (BRAIN) — Despite surveys and many conversations with industry stakeholders, Emerald Expositions has not made a decision about bringing back the Interbike trade show in the near future, the company told BRAIN.
“It’s a topic that a lot of people want to know about,” said Aracely Santos Ferraresi, the vice president of Emerald’s Xcelerator Portfolio. Xcelerator is Emerald’s division devoted to developing new brands. “We haven’t made any kind of formal decision about it; we are still gathering a lot of information.”
Interbike was last held, in Reno, Nevada, in 2018. Its last event in Las Vegas was 2017. The show’s decline began years earlier when the major bike brands stopped exhibiting in favor of conducting their own dealer events.
“Interbike was an important brand for Emerald but we recognize the challenges … it’s not a decision we take lightly,” Ferraresi said.
Ferraresi and other Emerald representatives have attended industry events in recent years including the Bicycle Leadership Conference, the Sea Otter Classic and Eurobike, sounding out suppliers and others about their interest in a new Interbike. Emerald also has sent out two e-mail surveys to the industry and hired industry consultant Scott Montgomery to talk to suppliers about their interest in a new show.
Ferraresi said the industry consensus seems to support a show in the September-October period. Emerald has floated the possibility of a show in Orlando, Florida, where the company already produces the Surf Expo in Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center in early September.
“Based on the surveys, the September-October time frame seems about right. Maybe people are used to that time frame (from previous Interbike shows),” she said.
As for Orlando, she said, “from the responses, the location is obviously not ideal for biking, but it wasn’t at the bottom of the list.”
She said industry members have noted that Orlando is easy to get to by air, has a variety of lodging options, and can be combined with a family vacation.
She said she appreciated the many responses received from the email surveys, which included an opportunity to signup for updates about a show. “A lot of people signed up for it; that audience wants to hear from us, so we owe them a decision,” she said. An announcement — either confirmation or denial of a 2026 fall show — is likely to come at least 12 months prior to a show date.
Emerald produces more than 140 events each year and owns 16 media properties. Besides the Surf show in Orlando — which was also produced in early January — in the sports category Emerald produces the Outdoor Retailer show, which will next be held in June in Salt Lake City. It also produces a series of regional events for the overlanding market.
Emerald's stock trades on the New York stock exchange under the EEX symbol and the company had revenues of $292 million in the first three quarters of its fiscal 2024, up almost 11% from the same period a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA for the period was $68.6 million, up about 11% year-over-year.
Until February 2019, Bicycle Retailer & Industry News was owned by Emerald Expositions and operated under license by the National Bicycle Dealers Association. BRAIN is now owned by Outside.
