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A participant celebrates with a crowd of attendees at the FitCon Expo in the South Towne Expo Center in April of 2016.

Courtesy FitCon Expo by Robert Norbutt

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Two men participate in a sporting event at the FitCon Expo in the South Towne Expo Center in April, 2016.

Courtesy FitCon Expo by Robert Norbutt

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The organizers behind Utah’s largest fitness-based event are continuing with business as usual, adapting the event to health recommendations in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dallin Rogers enrolled at the University of Utah in 2007, graduating with his bachelor’s degree in exercise sports science four years later. After a two-year hiatus, the Utah Valley youth football manager and skills coach re-enrolled at the university, this time seeking a master’s degree in business administration.

While working as an athletics director and pursuing a post-secondary degree, Rogers developed the FitCon Expo, holding the first event at South Towne Expo Center before outgrowing the space and moving later events to the Salt Palace.

Leading up to the expo’s first appearance in 2014, Rogers was looking for a way to support locally based fitness-related businesses that weren’t getting traction in the Utah Valley area.

In previous years, the Lehi-based FitCon company has been joined by hundreds of business vendors and hosted roughly 30 sports and fitness competitions at any one time, including fencing, powerlifting, mixed martial arts and more.

The event, which was originally scheduled for the first two days of May, was postponed to August 21-22 as the venue was forced to temporarily close and most Utah residents were still observing quarantine efforts.

However, since the decision to host the expo in August, Rogers said the event’s planning and development has radically changed.

“As we’re approaching those dates, with the research coming out, we knew that the best way to accommodate the environment would be to move it outdoors,” he said.

While the in-person event will be held outdoors, FitCon Expo organizers are encouraging participants to wear masks.

Additionally, participants will have their temperatures checked before entering the event, sanitization stations will be established throughout the event, and touchless-payment systems through Venmo and credit cards have been developed.

FitCon also has established separate points of entry and exit for participants as well as a separate entrance for participants in high-risk groups, such as the elderly or those with pre-existing conditions.

Outside of the in-person, outdoor event, Rogers said an online option also will be available for high-risk residents wanting to participate.

“Putting politics aside, there’s a large population of people who want to go out and live their lives as normal and there’s a large population of people who are more fearful and want to stay inside and not risk getting sick,” Rogers said. “Our goal, without choosing one side or the other, is to accommodate both sides.”

As the first in-person and online hybrid event, Rogers said FitCon will be able to provide services to those who don’t feel comfortable leaving their homes while increasing the potential customer pool for business exhibitors at the event.

FitCon, he said, would rather put more energy into supporting businesses than in choosing sides.

In 2019, the FitCon Expo supported over 2,000 Utah jobs and generated over $2.2 million in direct business sales for fitness companies in the state. Since then, the expo has become an annual event where the sports and fitness community could come together to promote health, fitness and living a healthy lifestyle.

A significant amount of the vendors present at the event have been from out-of-state companies in previous years. However, Rogers said that will be one of the big differences in this year’s event.

During the coronavirus pandemic, FitCon is placing more emphasis on local vendors in an attempt to support Utah business owners during the economic recession and encourage patrons to follow travel restrictions that have been put in place.

“There’s no reason that, if we’re doing so safely, we shouldn’t be able to come together to support businesses while maintaining health department recommendations,” he said.

In order to better support local businesses, FitCon has reduced booth prices, which cover overhead costs such as utilities and venue rentals, by 50%.