CHICAGO — The results are in, and Trade Show Executive (TSE) has released the honorees for the Gold 100 Class of 2025, representing the largest trade shows that took place in the U.S. last year.
Gold 100 Class of 2025
This year’s honorees are comprised of iconic brands and staples on the Gold 100 list, including CES®, IAAPA Expo, World of Concrete, ProMat®, SHOT Show, NAB Show, JCK and SUPERZOO among others.
You can find the full list of this year’s honorees here.
The official rankings of this year’s Gold 100 will be revealed at the upcoming TSE Gold 100 Awards & Summit, taking place Sept. 22-24 at the Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes, Calif. Gold 100 honorees qualify for one waived registration to the event. You can find more information, and register for the event here.
By the Numbers
Overall, the Gold 100 shows totaled more than 41 million net square feet of exhibit space, welcomed more than 106,000 exhibitors and convened more than 2.8 million attendees. Sixty-two of the shows are managed by associations, societies or other not-for-profits, while 38 were managed by independent organizers.
When it comes to rotational patterns, only 34% of the honorees alternate locations, while 66 are held in a fixed location each edition.
The shows on this year’s list range from 154,874 nsf up to 2,590,665 nsf. Only 6% of the recognized shows clocked in at 1 million nsf or larger, while 37% fall into the range of 350,000-999,999 nsf. Fifty-seven percent of the shows on the rankings are less than 350,000.
Based on an average space rate of $42.59 per sf, the Gold 100 Class of 2025 represents roughly $1.8 billion of exhibit space value.
Of the 100 shows, 25 of them were on the most recent TSE Fastest 50 list, recognizing the fastest-growing shows of 2025, while 33 of them reported 2025 as their largest edition to date.
Modest Growth Tracked Year Over Year in NSF and Exhibitors; Attendance Slips
Compared to the list of Gold 100 shows of 2024, the Class of 2025 saw a 1.5% rise in net square feet of exhibit space and a 0.5% increase in exhibitors. The 2025 shows did record a slight 1.5% dip in attendance, which is on par with the overall declines in attendance growth the industry has reported in TSE’s quarterly Dashboard reports.
Grand Award and Women to Watch Nominations Are Open
Alongside the celebration of the TSE Gold 100 Class of 2025, the Gold 100 event will also celebrate the 2026 Women to Watch and winners of this year’s Grand Awards.
The Grand Awards recognize excellence in a variety of categories ranging from marketing to sustainability to strategic partnerships to new launches to overcoming adversity. The program also includes the coveted Greatest Trade Show of the Year category, which recognizes the show with the most outstanding performance and offerings in 2025.
The Grand Awards program is open to shows of all sizes, meaning even shows that are not on the Gold 100 listing will have their shot to take home some prestigious titles and serious hardware.
Nominate a show for this year’s program here.
TSE’s Women to Watch program aims to recognize and celebrate rising talent in the trade show industry. The program shines a spotlight on these individual’s potential and encourages nominees to be early on in their careers to help highlight what is to come as they continue growing their careers and influence in the industry.
Selected women will be recognized at the Gold 100 event, and will partake in a group photoshoot onsite in Palos Verdes. They will also be spotlighted in an upcoming edition of Trade Show Executive Magazine.
Nominate a Woman to Watch here.
All the Grand Award finalists and Women to Watch will be invited to attend this year’s Gold 100 Awards & Summit to take part in all the valuable networking and education the event offers.
