Portrait photo of Brady L. Kay leaning against a truck

Talk’n Torque

SEMA is…

Well, Big!

SEMA is…Well, Big!

For nearly 10 years I’ve coached youth sports and somewhere along the way I picked up the nickname Coach Big K. At 6 feet, 5 inches tall and a biscuit over 300 pounds, it’s clearly not the most creative name the kids could have come up with, yet I’ve learned to embrace it and I actually enjoy being called Big K for short.

Do you know what else is big? Like, really, really big? The SEMA Show that kicks off November 1! Last year the new West Hall opened and added more than 1 million square feet of new available exhibit space to the SEMA Show, and believe me, my sore feet noticed–not that I’m complaining.

For those who haven’t heard of the SEMA Show, where have you been? Just kidding (sort of). If you’ve somehow managed to make it through life never learning what SEMA is, I’ll do my best to sum it up for you. The SEMA Show is the aftermarket industry’s annual trade show in Las Vegas that is held at the massive Las Vegas Convention Center and is produced by the Specialty Equipment Market Association. It’s actually kind of hard to describe if you haven’t attended, but for auto enthusiasts–and that especially includes diesel truck fanatics–it’s what Christmas morning…at Disney World feels like to a 6-year-old.

SEMA is a four-day aftermarket paradise that historically brings in more than 160,000 attendees, including more than 70,000 buyers from the industry. Attendees come from all over the U.S. and 140 countries to see more than 2,400 exhibiting companies. Nearly 2,500 exhibitors? Let that sink in for a minute.

“If you could somehow lay the Empire State Building on its side with its base at the entrance to the Upper South Hall, the tip of the antenna would end near the back wall.”

One of the interesting statistics is the length of just one of the many exhibit halls that are part of the convention center. For example, the Upper South Hall at 464,658 square feet is where you find tools (equipment and collision) as well as repair and refinishing products. The surprising thing is this gigantic hall is just one of several that contain the massive SEMA Show. If you’re still trying to wrap your head around the size, the length of the interior building of the upper South Hall is approximately 1,690 feet. For perspective, the height of the Empire State Building is 1,454 feet and that includes the spire! If you could somehow lay the Empire State Building on its side with its base at the entrance to the Upper South Hall, the tip of the antenna would end near the back wall.

All the convention center halls added together have 4.6 million square feet of exhibit space, which is truly hard to appreciate unless you’ve seen it for yourself. Where I spend most of my week is in the new West Hall across the street from the other halls that has mostly truck exhibits and truck products. Talk about Christmas morning: whoa!

Of course I failed to mention that everything at SEMA isn’t just confined to inside these halls. The fun spills out into the parking lots as well for a major sensory overload. If they can find a spot outside to display a high-end truck, they will.

The 2022 show will include more than 1,500 feature vehicles and more than 3,000 products in the SEMA Show New Products Showcase. Hopefully the pandemic is behind us, travel returns to normal and the 2022 show will be just as big as it has been historically. And when I say big, I mean it.

Brady L. Kay,
Diesel Tech Editor

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