Brand model Brittney Scarlett shows off Pump Sauce’s newest flavor, strawberry lemonade. Pump Sauce is one of 25 brands that will be featured in the first-ever Stack3d Select pavilion at this year’s Arnold Sports Festival. Credit: Courtesy of Pump Sauce, co-owned by Jordan Murphy
The 36th annual Arnold Sports Festival is taking a novel approach to hosting fitness supplement vendors.
The Columbus-based Arnold Sports Festival — a multisport event founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger that features various elite fitness-related competitions — is returning to the Greater Columbus Convention Center Thursday through Sunday for its 36th iteration. This year, however, the event is introducing a new “Stack3d Select pavilion,” which will host 25 different fitness supplement brands and be open Friday through Sunday.
The pavilion’s conception came from a collaboration between Stack3d — a fitness industry news outlet founded by Shane Smith — and the festival’s event organizers, such as Ohio State alum Brent LaLonde. Both Smith and LaLonde said the pavilion will change previous years’ approaches to vendor booths by creating one large space to accommodate all 25 brands, instead of scattering booths throughout the convention center.
“For supplement shows in general, you don’t usually get a third-party collective like this,” Smith said. “I’ve been to a lot of shows around the world and it is a first for the Arnold, but I would think in terms of just all sports nutrition shows around the world it’s probably a first, too.”
Smith said a variety of brands connected to Stack3d will appear within the pavilion, ranging from smaller businesses like Pump Sauce to more well-known companies like GHOST Lifestyle. He said the new layout is expected to give the lesser-known brands an opportunity to showcase their products without being outshined by larger corporations.
“Some of the rules we put in place [were] to make everyone feel the same, no matter your size,” Smith said. “We made sure that [the brands] got all-in-one packages so that they wouldn’t have to pay things that they didn’t necessarily see coming and we just catered to their needs.”
LaLonde, who graduated from Ohio State in 1991, said the festival initially reached out to Smith due to Stack3d’s large popularity in the fitness world, considering it’s one of the industry’s leading news outlets.
“We knew we wanted to work with Shane somehow,” LaLonde said. “We knew he could bring a lot of value to the weekend; he could bring a lot of new vendors for the weekend to help us broaden our sales scope and bring some companies into the weekend that have not been here before. And it led to the Stack3d Pavilion.”
Pump Sauce is one smaller company that will be attending the festival for the first time, as it is a relatively new brand that made its debut in March 2023. Co-founder Jordan Murphy said he and his business partner, Hashim Ahmed, are simultaneously excited and nervous about the event because it will be the largest bodybuilding expo the brand has appeared in yet — an opportunity Murphy said he credits to Smith.
“In terms of something on this scale, the Arnold is like the Super Bowl for us, so we’re super ecstatic to be here,” Murphy said. “Honestly, we’re very grateful [to] Shane and Stack3d in general for even letting us be here.”
On a personal level, Murphy said he is especially looking forward to the festival because Schwarzenegger has been one of his role models since he started weightlifting at 15 years old.
“This is like my childhood dream of being at the Arnold,” Murphy said. “It’s honestly kind of surreal, actually. It feels a little bit like a dream to be honest with you. I kind of have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real.”
Murphy said his brand is largely known for its liquid pre-workout, called “Pump Sauce,” which does not contain caffeine or other stimulants; rather, it is made with healthier alternatives that still give gymgoers the energy boost they need to exercise.
The brand’s originality as the first company to create such a product, plus its appeal to a broad demographic — ranging from less fitness-oriented individuals to pro-level bodybuilders — has likely accounted for its quick rise in popularity, Murphy said.
“We want you to feel comfortable buying, but we also want your mom to walk up to the booth and be like, ‘Oh, this stuff is cool, and I workout and I hate pre-workout, so maybe I try this,” Murphy said.
The Pump Sauce booth will offer festival attendees a 35% discount on its products, along with a free shirt alongside any purchase. The company will also host a giveaway where the winner can receive a yearlong supply of Pump Sauce, Murphy said.
Since this is his first time being involved in a project of this sort, Smith said he doesn’t have any concrete expectations but does hope he can absorb the experience and perhaps bring the Stack3d Pavilion back to future Arnold festivals.
“I’m just thanking my lucky stars that I was able to do this. I know they thank me but I’m just like, ‘Dude, it’s the other way around. I wanna thank you,’” Smith said. “Hopefully it goes as great as I imagined and again, we’ll be back next year doing something equally cool and hopefully better.”
Aside from the vendors, LaLonde said he has expectations for the festival as a whole. The event is projected to host roughly 20,000 competing athletes and between 100,000 to 125,000 individual attendees, while also planning to give away approximately $1.1 million in prize money.
“This will definitely be one of the biggest productions that we have done,” LaLonde said.
More information about the Arnold Sports Festival — including event listings, ticket prices and more — can be found on its website. More information about Stack3d can be found on its respective website, and additional details about Pump Sauce can be found on its website.
This story was updated March 1, 2024, to correctly identify the 36th Arnold Sports Festival.
