NAB Reports 58,000+ Registered Attendees at 2026 NAB Show, Up From 2025 but Down From 2024

NAB reports that the 2026 NAB Show wrapped with more than 58,000 registered attendees, with participants hailing from 146 countries. NAB's reported attendance is up from the 55,000 registered attendees last year, but down from 61,000 in 2024 and 65,000 in 2023. The show featured more than 1,100 exhibitors, including 132 first-time participants - slightly ahead of last year.

Nearly one in four attendees (22%) traveled from outside the U.S. with representatives from 146 countries taking part. That is down compared to last year's 160 countries and 26% of the crowd coming from outside the States.

In addition, 48% of the attendees were there for the first time. Registered content creator attendees increased 140% over 2025. In terms of sports, attendees included representatives from approximately 75 professional sports teams, 22 professional leagues and governing bodies, 30 sports venues, 15 esports and gaming organizations, 35 collegiate athletic departments, and 15 sports content producers and distributors. The enterprise market drew a large crowd with more than 13,000 attendees identifying as corporate media professionals - nearly double the 2025 number.

The 2026 NAB Show captured the energy and transformation driving today's media and entertainment landscape, unveiling powerful new tools and technologies that put storytelling in everyone's hands, says Karen Chupka, Executive Vice President, NAB Show. This year, we brought together a truly global community to spark innovation, elevate new voices and ignite the conversations shaping what comes next - where anyone, anywhere, can create and share stories that matter.

At NAB Show, we talk to studios, to the broadcasters, longstanding customers, but at the same time, we're able to engage with developers and content creators, says Gaby Ferreres, Head of Industry Marketing, M&E, Sports, Games and Advertising, AWS. It's a broad swath of different audiences that we get to meet with and engage with at NAB.

The show delivered more than 530 conference sessions with approximately 900 speakers. Notable speakers included Nate Bargatze, Akela Cooper, Mark Fischbach (Markiplier), FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, Marcus Jones, Jon Miller (NBC Sports), Jeff Probst, Jen Psaki, Eric Robles, Mo Rocca, JB Smoove, and FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty, along with representatives from Microsoft, FIFA, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Netflix.

Program Highlights:

Sports Summit: Four-day program open to all attendees, covering rights, production, distribution, and fan engagement.

Enterprise Video Track: Programming for Fortune 1000 and enterprise teams building in-house studios.

Business of Media and Entertainment: Produced with The Ankler, moved to the show floor for broader access.

Creator Lab: Expanded sessions covering AI, business strategy, monetization, and audience development.

AI Focus: Two dedicated AI Pavilions and hundreds of exhibitors demonstrating AI applications across the content lifecycle.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/04/23/nab-reports-58000-registered-at...
	See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines