The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show has extended its contract with Visit Anaheim through 2030, ensuring that Orange County’s second largest convention remains in the region amid talks of it possibly relocating to another market.
“And we’re not done yet. We’re going to get another 10 years after that,” Visit Anaheim Chief Executive Mike Waterman said at a July 29 proclamation event with NAMM officials.
Waterman came last year to Visit Anaheim, a marketing organization responsible for promoting and booking conventions and meetings at the Anaheim Convention Center, after serving as chief sales officer at Visit Orlando.
One of his first challenges was ensuring that NAMM remained in Orange County, as conference organizers were looking elsewhere, he said.
Visit Anaheim presented “a package that was so compelling for the board, for NAMM that John (Mlynczak), Cindy and the team were able to pull it across the finish line,” Waterman added.
The extension comes as NAMM plans to mark its 50th show in Anaheim next year while also commemorating the organization’s 125th anniversary since being “founded in 1901 by a group of piano dealers in New York who wanted to make sure that the trade of musical instruments at the time was strong,” according to NAMM CEO John Mlynczak.
“We’re about the music products industry,” Mlynczak said. “I know you have a lot of trade shows here but people flock to music.”
NAMM has estimated its annual trade show brings in $120 million to the city. This year, the annual conference brought in over 63,000 attendees.
“It is a true cornerstone of Anaheim conventions,” Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said. “NAMM fills our hotels, supports our restaurants and most important, it fuels our small businesses.”
Mlynczak said NAMM brings the world to Anaheim, describing the show as a “global stage for our industry to announce groundbreaking products, establish transformative partnerships, and gain valuable education that will lead to a successful year ahead.”
NAMM reported that more than 10,700 international visitors were included in total attendance this year. The annual event, which takes place every January, hosted this year over 1,850 exhibitors that represented around 4,400 brands from the global music products industry—such as Yamaha, Sony and Gibson.
“NAMM cannot exist anywhere else without a strong community,” Mlynczak said. “We’ve been all over – Anaheim is our global home because of community.
“Anaheim comes together to support us in such a huge way, and that’s why this works.”
Anaheim Hit Visitation Milestone in 2024
The city of Anaheim hit a record high of 26.3 million visitors in 2024 with spending up 2.3% over the previous year to $6.6 billion.
“As the city prepares to host indoor volleyball at Honda Center in 2028, along with milestone developments like OCVibe and the DisneylandForward expansion, Visit Anaheim is setting the stage to continue breaking visitation records in the coming years,” Waterman said in a statement.
The marketing organization is expecting increased tourism leading up to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Visit Anaheim said it’s working toward welcoming 30 million annual visitors ahead of LA28 with a boost from other crowd-drawing events such as the NAMM Show, BlizzCon 2026 and Disney’s D23 fan event.
It is also anticipating early trips ahead of the games for potential test events, training camps and previews. Five new hotels are in the works in Anaheim as well, set to add nearly 1,000 guest rooms by 2030.
“We are investing in a vision in Anaheim,” Mayor Aitken said.
Visit Anaheim expects visitor spending to reach $6.7 billion in 2025.
