Licensing.biz speaks to Anna Knight, who reminds visitors to book meetings before arrival at the show and outlines what else will be going on in Vegas next week.

With a week to go until the Las Vegas Licensing Expo returns to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center and the international licensing industry once again sets out to discover the biggest opportunities in gaming, film, TV, even the metaverse and NFTs, Toy World speaks to Anna Knight, SVP Licensing at Informa Markets, about what to expect from this year’s show.

Anna tells us that this year, borders are once again open worldwide, resulting in visitors from an incredible 96 different countries, and exhibitors from 25 different countries. “By the time we close registration I’m certain this will be a record,” she says. “And as Expo has always been a truly global show, being able to welcome back visitors and exhibitors from Asia is wonderful.”

Anna details the huge range of exhibiting companies, including a Sports zone playing host to a number of European football organisations, plus a much bigger presence from exhibitors such as The Pokémon Company and Jazwares, as well as new exhibitors which include Mojang Studio’s Minecraft.

“Vegas is the only global licensing-specific event of its kind, and it tends to see the launch of a lot of new IPs, content slates and licensing programmes,” adds Anna. “It’s an exciting time for the Toys & Games category, which has weathered the storm of the past few years really well. Licensed toys and games in particular are outperforming the marketplace. The focus will very much be on the new, not that which you will already know about or have seen before. This will help licensees prepare for 2024/25.”

To read the full article, which appeared in the Licensing World section of the June 23 edition of Toy World, click here.

The issue contains a wealth of content covering everything you need to know about what is happening in the kids licensing space. As well as our preview of the forthcoming Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, there’s news from some of the licensing arena’s hottest properties, plus an exhaustive trawl through the latest character merchandise ranges being launched by licensees over the coming months.

To read the full digital edition, click here.