Sports Licensing and Tailgate Show
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The Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show (SLATS) is the premier B2B marketplace for licensed sports and tailgate merchandise. It brings together 300+ exhibitors, all major U.S. sports leagues, collegiate licensing groups, and mass retail buyers. SLATS is recognized as the primary annual gathering where retailers source new licensed product lines and licensors discover new brand partnerships.
For YETI, SLATS is a great chance to grow our sports‑licensed lineup, strengthen relationships across both collegiate and pro sports, and reinforce our position as the go‑to premium brand for hardgoods and drinkware in the sports retail space. We’ll be showcasing our lineup in a 20×20 booth on the show floor, using our Tier 3 clamshell assets to highlight our expanding licensed product portfolio. And to make the experience even more engaging, we’re hosting a Happy Hour on Wednesday, 1/21—giving attendees a relaxed way to connect with the partnerships team and experience the YETI brand in a more meaningful, memorable way.
1/19 - 8:00am - Exhibitor Move-In - 20x20 booths or larger
1/20 - Merch Booth
1/21 - Show Day - 9a - 5p. Happy Hour 1p - 4p
1/22 - Show Day - 9a - 5p
1/23 - Show Day - 9a - 2p. Load out: 2p - Complete
Steve Dennis: 503.720.7118
Kelly Willette: 541.297.8765
Steve onsite 1/17. Kelly onsite 1/18. Both depart 1/24.
Roles and responsibilities to be determined onsite. Plan on arriving at the booth 30-45 minutes early each day to vacuum/prep before attendees arrive.
Happy Hour is advertised for 1-4p on 1/21. Contract with Sodexo is 4 hr min. 1p - 5p so it can run long if there's still beers on hand.
Sodexo Contact: Angela Smith - 725-377-6425
Freeman Contacts -
Ron Garvais (Freight Supervisor) - 702.493.8416
Tammy Davis (Boss) - track her down at Show Services/Freeman desk if need be. Big Chiefs fan.. we gave her a cooler last year.
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Make sure to bring the correct tier 3 graphic for the show in the future. Signs to promote happy hour. A badge for brand partners to do a happy hour on the first day to avoid giving out product without strong interaction.
You know that moment at a trade show when someone walks up wearing a foam finger the size of a canoe and asks, dead serious, “Can I get this in our shade of midnight-royal-electric-maroon?” Yeah. That was the vibe at SLAT.
The Sports Licensing and Tailgate Show just rolled through the Las Vegas Convention Center—bringing with it the entire ecosystem of sports fandom: every major league, franchise, and university… and every manufacturer on earth apparently racing to slap a logo on anything that can be held, worn, waved, or aggressively displayed on a folding table in a parking lot.
And in that beautiful sea of trinketry, YETI stood out the way it always does: by being the real thing. Because a Rambler or a Tundra stamped with the insignia you’d ride-or-die for isn’t just another souvenir—it’s a keeper. A legit memento. The kind of branded product that doesn’t end up in a junk drawer next to a lanyard and a stress ball shaped like a mascot’s head.
Which meant the booth stayed busy. Heavy traffic, steady conversations, and that unmistakable “game respects game” energy—brand partners circling in, pausing, taking it in, and then stepping up with the questions that matter.
And that’s where the Swift crew came in.
Our job was simple, but not small: make sure the booth and product displays were staged, dialed, and ready for prime time—every day. Show up early, stay late, keep it tight. Run interference when needed. Make the whole space feel sharp, welcoming, and effortlessly handled.
Because meetings don’t happen behind curtains at SLAT—they happen right out in the open. So you end up playing greeter, host, traffic controller, and “yes-we-can-help-you” concierge all at once. The goal: protect the Sales and Partnerships team’s time so they can stay focused on the right accounts, the right organizations, and the right conversations.
Kelly and I held the front line—fielding questions, welcoming partners as they rolled in for meetings, and keeping the flow smooth so the YETI Sales team could do what they do best without ever having to break stride.
And the best part?
It went off without a hitch.
No scrambling. No last-minute fire drills. Just a booth that looked sharp, felt inviting, and ran clean from open to close—exactly how you want to wrap a show in Vegas.