Marky Mark’s back… with a back workout. F45 Training, a Mark Wahlberg-backed chain of HIIT studios, just flexed its first earnings as a public company. As you ditched at-home YouTube exercises, F45’s sales more than tripled to a quarterly record. It seems that people missed group sweat sessions:
- Team training: F45 only offers group fitness classes and it’s known for its signature 45-minute high-intensity workouts. Think: CrossFit meets SoulCycle.
- Big gaining: F45 opened 300 locations last year and expects to open 1K this year (#gainz). It’s reportedly the fastest-growing fitness franchise in the world.
Franchises aren’t just for fast food… Part of the reason F45 is expanding faster than Wahlberg’s biceps: its franchise model. F45 doesn’t need tons of cash to open new locations, because it passes most costs to franchise owners. And those owners are lining up to open gyms: franchisees have already opened 1.7K F45 gyms and bought the rights to open another 1.6K.
- More reps: Some of the biggest gym chains use franchise models: Planet Fitness and Anytime Fitness have well over 2K franchises each and charge less than $50 for monthly membership.
- Heavier weight: Premium gyms like Equinox own their eucalyptus-scented locations, which helps control branding but limits growth: Equinox has only 106 gyms but charges $170+/month.
Survival of the fittest demands strength + flexibility… Nearly a third of US gyms went out of business during the pandemic. And while the US gym industry is recovering, it still hasn’t rebounded. That’s the opening for a biz like F45, which just had a record quarter combining two key strategies: franchising and premium-ifying. Its $150 monthly fee and high-end classes give it an Equinox-like appeal, while its franchise model gives it flexibility to grow without requiring much cash on hand.