Emerald Expositions, part of Emerald Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EEX) and owners of CEDIA Expo and CEPro, has reported that final attendance at CEDIA Expo 2025, “the premier event for the custom systems integration industry,” establishes it was yet another year of declining participation. This rather sobering news is consistent with feedback I received from several exhibitors at the event this year – almost all of whom told me that attendance was noticeably off, with several saying it was significantly down from last year.
Now we know with certainty, even with Emerald’s attempt to hide the real attendance figures, that attendance at Expo 2025 was in fact appreciably below attendance at Expo 2024 last year.
See more on the decline in attendance at CEDIA Expo 2025
In the formal announcement released by Emerald about CEDIA Expo 2025, the exposition company did its best to put a positive spin on the event. Expo 2025’s attendees and brands, the announcement said, “emphasized the quality of interaction and the positive energy on the show floor.” Exhibitors, it went on, “scann[ed] over 75,000 attendee leads, connecting with an influential audience where 84% of attendees have buying power.”
Emerald Says It ‘Received Overwhelmingly Positive Feedback From Exhibitors’
Emerald’s announcement also touted the fact that the event “attracted a diverse group, including 30% first-time participants and a double-digit increase in design-build professionals.” I cannot independently verify any of this information.
CEDIA Expo/CIX was a feast for the senses. Leading industry brands such as Sony, Crestron, Lutron, ADI/Snap One, Origin Acoustics, Harman, and Samsung, among hundreds more, along with 50 first-time exhibitors, brought their ‘A’ game—launching new products, showcasing innovation, and raising the bar. The quality of attendees made for connections that truly matter. We’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback from exhibitors, who were impressed by both the caliber of our audience and the overall quality of this year’s show.
Jason McGraw, Emerald Group Vice President and Show Director for CEDIA Expo & KBIS
A More Disappointing Drop-Off in the Number of Attendees This Year
However, this formal announcement effectively deemphasized what for many was the more important news. And that news was the reality that there was a disappointing drop-off in the number of attendees on the floor. Coming out of the COVID years of 2020 and 2021, Emerald had reported “verified attendance” numbers, based on the number of physical badges handed out at the event. But then last year, in 2024, when it appeared as though attendance had dropped, Emerald declined to reveal the verified attendance numbers, instead choosing to only reveal the number of registrations, a far less accurate guide to physical attendance.
This year, Emerald chose to repeat the same strategy, declining to reveal verified attendance and instead announcing a total of 14,000 registrations. We can stop right there and discern which way attendance moved versus last year. The company-supplied figure of 14,000 total combined registrations by itself means that registrations this year were down by 1,200 registrants, or 7.9% lower than registrations of 15,200 last year. Keep in mind that in a previous analysis, I reported that Expo 2024 also had fewer registrations than it had in 2023, then off by 341 registrants or down 2.2%. This means that the rate of attendance decline is increasing – a reality sure to concern exhibitors.
CEDIA Expo 2025 Hosted the Lowest Number of Attendees Since the COVID-Impacted Years
From Emerald’s registration number and by using a formula based on historical trends in actual attendance versus total registrations, I have been able to calculate an “estimated” actual attendance for CEDIA Expo 2025. Using simple math, I calculated that the total actual attendance this year was approximately 11,270 attendees. That is the lowest attendance figure for any CEDIA Expo event since the 2020/2021 COVID years.
One comment I heard several times from exhibitors is that the cost to participate in CEDIA Expo for exhibitors goes up every year. Yet, the attendance keeps declining, which both angers the exhibitors and also suggests that they simply cannot sustain their support of the event forever in the face of that declining reality.
Speculation as to Why Attendance is Declining
I heard a lot of speculation from exhibitors (and some attendees) as to just why attendance continues to decline year after year. Some suggested that the uncertainty in the economy is depressing business levels and making the cost of attending or exhibiting at such events more difficult to justify. Others suggested that the aggressive tariff program launched by the Administration is both hitting exhibitors, many of whom absorbed significant amounts of the tariff, and dealers who are paying inflated prices for tariffed goods.
Some pointed to the increasing number of industry shows and events, which are fragmenting the total attendee base, who generally pick a few of the events to go to, but do not attend them all. Others wonder if the CEDIA community is stagnating…or even losing momentum.
About Outboarders and Splitting Up of Attendees
Another factor pointed out to me is the increasing number of exhibitors who set up displays and meetings outside of the show. Some refer to these companies as “outboarders.” Typically, these companies are housed in hotel banquet rooms in facilities surrounding the event in the same city…but are not part of the main show. This also splits up the attendees between the multiple separate locations.
I have been tracking CEDIA Expo attendance since 2001. Looking at my spreadsheet, you can easily see trends come and go. But in its prime, attendance was 20,000+, and the total number of exhibitors was 500-600. There were many years when the show added more than 100 new exhibitors. Contrast that with what we saw in CEDIA Expo 2025. Total attendance is almost just 1/3rd of the historical max, with a total of 400 exhibitors, and just 50 new exhibitors.
We Don’t Want That
Whatever the reason for the diminishing attendance, if CEDIA Expo continues to lose attendees, it will soon start to lose exhibitors. And that could start a vicious cycle amounting to a death spiral for our industry’s single most important trade event. We don’t want that!
See more on CEDIA Expo by visiting cediaexpo.com.
We have had a booth at CEDIA since 2011 and before that co-exhibited with CEPro magazine. We too have noticed a steady decline since 2023, but if we look back before COVID, the current show is even more disappointing and declining. The following are the main factors in our opinion.
1. The CEDIA show is no longer run by CEDIA the organization. There is different attitude by the current organizer best summed by a question asked during reregistration about high restrictions with different booth configurations, the answer “we have no idea, we manage too many shows to be able to remember any details like that”.
2. The show has stopped moving around, before when it moved every second year, the first year was always the best attended expo. But Denver was convenient for the new organizer.
3. Tighter US visa restrictions for attendees from other countries. In the early 2010s there were hundreds of attendees from all around the world, now there are a few Canadians and some from Central America. In contrast, ISE in Europe is expected to surpass 100,000 attendees this coming February.
4. The industry is changing, there is less business each year in the high-end residential Audio/Video markets. Maybe it is time that the organization and show started to bring in some other industries. And I am not talking about knives and muscle relaxers, cheap fillers.
This. ☝️
Whoa, Jason! Your analysis is spot-on, and honestly, a bit grim. Its like watching your favorite show get a ratings dump every year – eventually, the actors (exhibitors) get tired of filming in an empty studio (show floor). The outboarders are like that friend who always says theyll join your party but ends up at home playing video games. And the economy/tariffs/too many shows? Pure chaos, like trying to pick a restaurant when there are too many options and all of them seem slightly overpriced.
This downward trend is indeed concerning. We wouldnt want CEDIA Expo to spiral into a Strata-gee mystery – vanishing without a trace, leaving only registration numbers to ponder. Lets hope the industry finds its spark before the next report confirms the show is more staticky than ever!
The featured photo is mis-leading, Ted. i attended this event, sitting in the front row with three other people that I arrived with. We are not in the photo and shortly after the event began, the room was quite full. The overall Expo attendance numbers are what they are and worthy of coverage and conversation but please use visuals that reflect the event accurately.
All the best,
Buzz
Buzz,
I am not entirely sure what you are suggesting, but that picture is accurate. I was there for the entire Town Hall Meeting and took dozens of photos. Sitting in the front row, you may have been unaware of the number of open seats in the hall behind you. I also sat at the front, but was up and moving around with my camera…documenting what I saw.
I took a few more photos later – including one about 45 minutes later and well into the presentation from the same vantage point – and there may be a handful of additional people there, but it looks essentially the same.
In any event, with the fall-off in attendance, I have many pictures that convey that theme. This picture is but one of them. The fact is, the attendance was down and this photo expresses that well.
Ted
Buzz how much did emerald pay you to say that?
I also feel a contributing factor is an increase in dealers that have embraced the lowest common denominator installation – Sonos, Ring, Frame TV and similar fringe DIY type projects – embracing labor and service as their profit centers. These types of dealers haven’t been looking for anything new or different in the custom channel. I think another contributing factor (for the past several years) is manufacturers are hesitant to showcase future products (fear of competitors stealing ideas?), and they also no longer wait to make a ‘splash’ at a show – if they have something ready to go in May, they aren’t sitting on it until September. I think some of that is an after effect of almost everything requiring software now – and holding software releases to a hard timetable is pretty much impossible.
Hi Ted,
The photo is from before the town hall began; I was there in the front row with three others when it began and we are not in the photo. You can see people entering via the lobby ballroom entry doors and many folks also arrived from the adjacent room where a reception was held prior to the town hall. For the meeting duration the room was far more full than this particular photo presents. That’s the main reason we sat in the front row as it was easily accessible.
Regards,
Buzz
Hi Ted. Great work as always, thanks for being the independent reporter.
Is there any data on the trend about companies going the “outboarding” route? How many companies per year, did those companies used to have a floor presence and if so why they chose not to continue, that sort of thing? We definitely noticed an increase in the off-site events we were invited to.
Thanks again.
Hi Ted, thanks for continuing to be the independent reporter.
Although I did not attend this year, I definitely agree about the increase in “outboarding” companies, just based on the number of off-site meetings and events we’ve been invited to over the past few years.
Is there any data on the outboarding trend? How many companies are hosting events off-site? How many of those used to participate in the show? That sort of thing.
Keep up the great work.
Hi Jordon,
I am not aware of any objective data on this. In most cases, outboarders like to fly under the radar and likely wouldn’t participate in any study on the matter. It is an issue that frustrates show promoters who feel they benefit from the show without contributing to the costs of putting on that show. However, on the other hand, I view it as an indicator that something about that show – perhaps rising costs or environment issues – have made the event less attractive for the brands who look at outboarding.
Thanks for your comments! -Ted