For several years after the pandemic event professionals were in growth mode. Live events surged back, AV vendors were booked solid, upgrade cycles accelerated, and spending increased nearly across the board. Approving last year's AV proposal, plus a reasonable increase, felt like the right call. Because the shows were going fine.
That era is over.
According to AVIXA's 2025 Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA), the Pro AV market is entering a period of normalization after years of post-pandemic acceleration. In the Venues and Events sector, growth slowed from 7.3% in 2024 to 4.4% in 2025. In the Live Events segment, it dropped from 8.9% to 4.3%. In Hospitality specifically, hotels, conference centers, event venues, growth fell from 4.9% to 3.6%, with further deceleration projected.
At the same time, pressure on in-house AV providers to increase capture rate and maintain commission structures are real and intensifying.
The wave that defined 2022 through 2024 has largely crested. Which means the question "are we still getting good value on our AV spend?" is no longer a hypothetical. It's operational.
Most meeting planners evaluate their AV program the same way their clients evaluate their events: the show either went fine, or it didn't. Technical failures are visible. Value erosion is not.
Here's what that means in practice: you can overpay for portable equipment that the venue's built-in systems could handle. You can renew a labor contract without an understanding of the work that needs to be done. You can approve upgrades to capabilities you're not fully using. The show goes fine. The invoices keep coming.
This is not a failure of attention. It's a structural problem. Your AV vendor's job is to deliver the event, not to tell you when you're buying more than you need, or when a different approach might serve you better. That's not cynicism about your vendor. It's just how the business model works.
A few things are happening simultaneously in the Pro AV market right now, and they pull in different directions for meeting planners.
On the cost side: US tariff policies effective April 2025 are creating price pressure across hardware categories: displays, cameras, microphones, signal routing gear. AVIXA notes that significant price hikes are anticipated for Pro AV hardware imported from tariff-affected regions, affecting everything from flat panel displays to commodity AV components. If your AV vendor is purchasing equipment in these categories, those costs are likely working their way into your proposals.
On the market side: where there was once plenty of choice in AV and production providers, consolidation in the market has shrunk the competitive landscape. And now, venues are looking for ways to incorporate exclusivity for their AV service providers to capture more of the event revenue. This may cause challenges for meeting planners that have traditionally relied on an outside providers, or for events that book different venues that may not use the same in-house provider.
None of this is cause for alarm. It is cause for asking better questions.
When was the last time someone walked through your AV program. Not an event debrief but the program itself, and asked whether the structure still makes sense?
Not "did the equipment work" but "is this the right equipment for what we're actually doing?" Not "did the crew deliver" but "is this the right staffing model for our event profile?" Not "are we within budget" but "is this the right budget for this kind of program?"
These questions require someone who has seen enough programs to have a comparison set, and who has no financial stake in your answer. That's a different role than the one your AV vendor plays, even a very good one.
The planners who tend to get the most value from their AV programs share a few things in common. They know what they're buying and why. They understand the difference between impact and efficiency, and they've made a deliberate choice about how to apply each. They can explain their AV spend to leadership in terms of outcome, not just line items.
None of that requires technical expertise. It requires having at least one conversation with someone whose job is to help you understand your situation clearly, not to sell you a solution.
That's the work AVaStar does. We own no equipment, employ no production crews, and have no contracts with AV vendors to protect. When we look at a client's AV program, the only question we're trying to answer is whether it's set up to serve their goals. No other agenda.
The market has shifted. Costs are rising in some categories and normalizing in others. The post-pandemic upgrade cycle is winding down. Budgets are tighter.
This is exactly the moment to understand your AV program at a deeper level than event-by-event performance. And it's the moment when having an independent perspective, one with no stake in what you buy or who you hire, is most valuable.
If you'd like to start with a conversation about your current program, that's what our free initial consultation is for. Not a pitch. A diagnostic. We'll ask about your situation, share what we're seeing in the market, and tell you honestly whether we think there's something worth looking at.
Start the conversation at avastar.io →
Source: AV Program Health in a Normalizing Market Data sourced from: AVIXA IOTA 2025 Database Support Document Cvent CONNECT signal: "Event trends uncovered: Data-driven insights from Cvent Source and PULSE" (July 14, 2026)
AVaStar operates at the intersection of professional audiovisual consulting for meeting planners and operational support for venues that are looking for more control and reliability over their event technology services. We close the knowledge gap between staffing realities and modern planner expectations through consulting-first support, a logic-driven operations platform, and training through AVaStar Academy. Learn more at avastar.io.
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