With a little over a week to go before the IHRSA 2020 international convention and trade show, a number of sponsors have withdrawn from the show, citing concerns surrounding COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus.
IHRSA 2020 is planned for March 18-21 in San Diego, California.
On March 4, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency. According to the Los Angeles Times, “Newsom said his emergency declaration is intended to help California prepare for and contain the spread of the coronavirus by allowing state agencies to more easily procure equipment and services, share information on patients and alleviate restrictions on the use of state-owned properties and facilities.”
Late last week, multiple brands announced their withdrawal from IHRSA 2020, including Keiser, FreeMotion, Life Fitness and Precor, citing growing concerns expressed by staff, customers and partners in regards to the coronavirus.
As of March 9, a host of other brands had also announced their withdrawal from the show, including Myzone, Iron Grip Barbell Company, ECOFIT, BOSU, Stages Indoor Cycling and Technogym.
Dave Wright, the creator and group CEO for Myzone, released a statement concerning the announcement, included in its entirety below:
“We have today taken the difficult decision to withdraw Myzone’s participation at IHRSA 2020. This includes our 7th annual executive breakfast, our keynote sponsorship and our booth. Although we were originally oversubscribed for the breakfast, having 600-plus confirmed attendees, and were excited to share our latest technological advancements of Myzone, we feel that we have an overriding duty of care to the health of our staff, customers and their families.
As you can appreciate, this is an incredibly costly and tough decision, but sometimes you simply must do what is right by your stakeholders (and their loved ones), irrespective of the financial implications.
We will continue to support operators around the world by providing connected fitness for their members both inside the club or those that elect to train at home.
As you know, we have supported IHRSA since our inception and we were extremely proud of being acknowledged as the 2018 IHRSA Associate of the Year. However, the “I” in IHRSA stands for International and it is very clear that our overseas friends, customers and partners will be restricted from attending the show, and many of our domestic partners have informed us that they also intend not to fly to San Diego next week.
We will endeavor to increase our virtual education and presence through webinars and conference meetings to stay connected with existing and potential customers. We will be communicating dates and times of these seminars in due course.
Thank you for your continuing custom and consideration, and we look forward to many years of supporting our employees, customers and the wider fitness industry.”
Below is a list of sponsors that have announced their withdrawal from IHRSA 2020:
- Life Fitness
- Precor
- Keiser
- FreeMotion
- Technogym
- BOSU
- ECOFIT
- Iron Grip Barbell Company
- Stages Indoor Cycling
- ABC Financial
- TRX
- Motionsoft
- Power Plate
- SportsArt
- Core Health & Fitness
- Wattbike
- Woodway
- GYMetrix
- Muscle Foods USA
- Foundation Fitness
- Power Systems
- ACE
- Wellness USA
- TRUE Fitness
- Les Mills
- Matrix Fitness
- HydroMassage
- Octane Fitness
- VersaClimber
- FitnessOnDemand
- MioLabs
- Easalytics
- Jonas Fitness
- UpSwell
- MXM
- Epsilon
- ASF Payment Solutions
- Club OS
This story is ongoing. Stay tuned for updates.
