Companies in the fitness industry operate fitness and recreational sport facilities which typically provide exercise courses, fitness equipment, swimming pools, and fitness instruction. As of February 2015 annual growth for the next 10-15 years is 4.9% and for the next 15-20 is 5.4% with profits reaching $207.2 million and annual revenue exceeding $2.9 billion.

Fitness centers generate $84 billion in worldwide annual revenue. There are over 180,000 fitness clubs around the world with 145 million members. The United States, Germany, United Kingdom, and Brazil have the highest numbers of memberships.

The United States and Brazil are the top two markets.

• In the United States alone there are over 30,000 fitness and recreation centers which have a combined annual revenue of $25 billion.

• In Brazil there are 8 million club members and 30,000 health clubs.

• The top three markets by revenue include the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany.

• In the Asia Pacific region there is over $14 billion in revenue from 28,000 locations serving over 17 million members.

• Mature markets such as South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan are enjoying steady growth and the average market penetration rate in other Asian areas is currently 4% but indicating potential.

Most clubs pay 3-5% annual revenue to the franchisor in exchange for management training, advertising, and recognition. For popular brand names such as Planet Fitness, World Gym, and Gold’s Gym the franchisee will pay between $20,000 and $50,000 for upfront fees per facility with a total investment over a 10 year franchise agreement between $1 and $4 million.

Major Players

There are different types of fitness franchises and there are major players within each. The service segmentation as of 2015 was 55% gym and fitness centers, 15% recreation classes and services, 12% courts and ice rinks, 10% swimming pools and spa services, and 8% dance studios.

For Big Box Gyms the major players include Planet Fitness, Retro Fitness, Gold’s Gym, and Crunch. For 24/7 Gyms with Keycard Access (these are physically smaller compared to Big Box Gyms) there is Anytime Fitness and Snap Fitness.

There are specialty fitness franchises including YogaFit and CorePowerYoga which are Yoga franchises and Club Pilates which is a Pilates franchise.  TITLE Boxing Club is a boxing and personal training franchise. Victory MMA and Fitness is an MMA franchise.

Other specialty fitness franchises include Curves, Iron Tribe, Bar Method, Moms on the Run, Koko Fit Club, Farrell’s Body Shaping, Kosama Complete Body Transformation, Get in Shape for Women, and Stroller Strides.

Trumi (formerly Look Good Naked) is a bootcamp franchise. Fitness Together is a personal training franchise concept. Jazzercise is a dance fitness franchise. Barre3, The Barre Code, and Pure Barre, are barre studio franchises.

State of the Fitness Franchise Industry

According to the GICS Sub-Industry Summary for Leisure Facilities, those facilities which focus on a local activity near consumer’s homes and provide value-oriented services have the highest projection of growth over the next 12 months. Over the long term, spending on said facilities will be driven by increased disposable income, available free time, and consumer confidence and the year to date in 2015 through July 10, this index had risen 18.8%.

The demand for fitness centers is influenced by income levels and market demographics. Membership is often highest at the start of the year following holiday weight gain and New Year’s resolutions.

Growing demand for fitness centers is the result of discretionary income, health care spending, consumer education, an aging population, and the need to address obesity. The aging populations in places such as the United States is driving demand for fitness centers which function as an alternative to high impact sports and provide tangential services such as spas, nutritional information, and mental health exercises.