By Jason Norman
MONTEREY, CA (BRAIN)--While this year's Sea Otter overall attendance numbers were slightly down from last year because of Saturday's deluge of rain, other numbers indicate a continued growth in the event.
There were more than 300 accredited media covering Sea Otter. From the tradeshow side, there were close to 300 exhibitors if you count the folks grilling up your spicy Bratwurst—that’s a 20 percent increase from last year.
“Many [exhibitors] continue to buy more and more space,” said Frank Yohannan, president and chief executive officer of Sea Otter.
Athletes entered roughly 9,500 events this year, which is a 15 percent increase over last year. But this should come as no surprise with newcomers such as Super D, Adventure racing and BMX racing, not to mention the growing-in-popularity SRAM Invitational Dirt Jump.
“They made a good change by moving the Dirt Jump to be more central and better for spectators,” said Mark Peterson, advocacy director for Kona. Lance McDermott won the competition.
For full story and Sea Otter coverage check out the May 1 Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.
