Author: Ben Yeo

Mountain Trade Network (MTN) is excited to announce the acquisition of the London Snow Show brand from Raccoon Media Group, marking a significant milestone in the future of the UK snowsports industry. Over the past four years, the National and London Snow Show brand has become synonymous with galvanising the UK snowsports community, offering an engaging platform for enthusiasts, brands, and industry professionals to connect and celebrate their love of winter sports. Raccoon Media Group’s development of the brand has laid a strong foundation, and now, with MTN at the helm, the brand is set to enter an exciting new chapter of innovation.

Under the new stewardship of Mountain Trade Network, the London Snow Show brand will continue to evolve, maintaining its position as a key community hub for the UK’s snowsports scene. MTN’s extensive experience and commitment to supporting the industry ensure that the brand will not only sustain its momentum but also grow in reach and impact. By combining its expertise with the legacy built by Raccoon Media Group, MTN is dedicated to further strengthening the community, providing new opportunities for brands and continuing to inspire a love for winter sports across the UK.

As the guardians of the iconic B2B snowsport events, LISTEX, LISTEX Luxury and SASTEX, MTN will now move forward with plans to serve the industry from both a B2B and B2C viewpoint with this new acquisition. Raccoon Media Group will continue to work in Partnership with MTN through its delivery of the hugely successful Snowbound Expo in Boston, USA.

James Gambrill, founder of the Mountain Trade Network MTN and LISTEX, said: “Having founded LISTEX to run alongside the London Snow Show I’m delighted MTN have agreed to purchase The London Snow Show from Raccoon Media Group. Raccoon have done a fantastic job of launching the event and bringing the Snow Show back to London after a gap of three years. I’ve personally been attending the London Snow Shows for over 25 years and know how important they are to UK skiers and snowboarders. MTN taking over this event with its incredible legacy, to drive it even further forward into the future, is very exciting and I’m looking forward to a fantastic event in 2025”.

Babsi Lapwood-Gambrill, CEO of the Mountain Trade Network said: “LISTEX has more than doubled in size in the last three years and since then we’ve also launched LISTEX Luxury which has also grown quickly to become a must attend event for those working in the luxury snowsports industry . With SASTEX focusing on the summer alpine market launching in 2025 as well as taking over the London Snow Show this is an exciting period of growth for MTN. With such a great team in place we are confident of creating a wider range of must attend events for the Mountain Sports Industry”.

Mike Seaman, CEO at Raccoon Media Group commented: “This is an incredibly exciting time for the brand and we are looking forward to seeing how MTN will evolve and develop what we have built over the last 4 years. Community is central to the London Snow Show brand and it feels like a natural next step for this event to be under the incredible stewardship of MTN and their passionate team.”

For more information about this acquisition contact Rob Stewart robert@ski-press.com

Year-on-year growth for The National Running Show

The National Running Show has seen a meteoric growth in all areas of the show in the last six years and a secured and projected uplift in 2025, reveals it shows no signs of slowing.

The 2025 National Running Show is set to take place on 25^th to 26^th January 2025 at The N.E.C. Birmingham. Upward figures include a 75% business rebook, a planned floorplan increase of 20%, plus projected visitor numbers of over 30,000. A record number of 250+ brands are also set to be represented in January, with more features than ever before.

The inaugural National Running Show event, held in January 2018, attracted approximately 20,000 runners and 95 brands to the show at the NEC Birmingham. Fast forward to 2024, the sixth edition of the show, and those figures have leapt to almost 30,000 visitors and 200+ brands choosing the UK’s premier running show.

The development of the event has been incremental and considered. ‘Version one’ of The National Running Show in 2018 had one main stage, occupied by a schedule of known running figureheads such as Dame Kelly Holmes. The format in its present persona is now more akin to that of a festival than an exhibition, with three stages and numerous specialist areas occupying the arena. Dedicated spaces represent varied running interests, for example the ‘ultra-zone’, which caters specifically for ultra-running enthusiasts.

The expansion of the show has aligned with the growth of an enviable speaker line-up, with globally recognised running personalities helping to amplify not just the in-person attendance, but also the digital reach and media buzz around the event.

A mix of Olympians, ultra-runners, athletes and notable YouTubers can be found around the arena during the event weekend, imparting advice and meeting their fans and communities.

An exciting new addition was added in 2024, in the form of The National Running Show Awards. A natural development given that all the key industry figures are in one place. The Awards provide real recognition for individuals, communities, groups and brands within the running universe. Following positive feedback, the Awards will return for 2025 to celebrate areas of achievement in all corners of the sport.

Nathalie Davies, MD at Raccoon Media Group comments, “The journey of growing The National Running Show has been organic, strategic and driven by purpose. We ensure that we keep evolving, keep ahead of the industry, listen to feedback and adjust accordingly. There have been many challenges, but the key to development is moving with passion, nurturing key relationships and striving for continuous improvement. ”

ENDS

For all media enquiries, contact Senior Marketing Manager Hannah Hopwood at hannah.hopwood@raccoonmediagroup.com

Notes to Editors:

National Running Show #RunShow
Official Video 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIXcC5gx_eU
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationalrunningshow/

About Raccoon Media Group

Raccoon Media Group is a dynamic, high-growth media business focused on enabling healthy and active lives. Our media properties deliver year-round content and advice to specialist, self-identifying consumers that share a love of being outside, healthy and active. Our events are well-timed, community-driven, tightly focused and passion-led. They bring buyers and sellers together to see cutting edge innovations in a fun and exciting way.

Leisure spending may hold up better than expected among active Brits. This is the conclusion of a new report by Sporting Insights (formerly Sports Marketing Surveys Inc.), available for immediate purchase.

The study confirms suspicions that general spending will, and indeed already is, beginning to be constrained. However, data suggests almost half of people are not, or at least not yet, considering changing expenditure concerning leisure activities.

This resilience, which is even more marked in some specific cycling categories than others, would be excellent news for both the cycling and wider sports industry and chimes with findings from throughout the pandemic that showed people according greater importance to active habits and products.

In fact, the research highlights how, in certain cases, spending on leisure items may actually help ease financial pressures. Overall, the trend in car usage was for drivers to shift towards driving less compared to 2021, this despite a general shift back towards offices or hybrid working. Meanwhile, around 40% of people cycled more in 2022 than in 2021.

Together, the responses indicate a rise in active transport use among one of the more active sectors of society.

The report, available for £250 + VAT, is designed to highlight how people’s day-to-day transport choices have shifted in 2022, how purchase habits are evolving at the dawn of the cost of living crisis – including on key sectors like sporting holidays – and how cycling is perceived more generally.

The data is based on a robust sample of almost 4,000 respondents with an interest in outdoor sports including cycling and running. Responses from active people across the UK were sought, with 64% of respondents taking part in over 150 minutes of exercise each week and 34% taking part in 30-150 minutes.

For more information on the study or to purchase the report, contact Marc Anderman, Head of Cycling.

You can also head to the Sports Insight website for more information.