The fitness industry took 13 of the 150 spots on Entrepreneur magazine’s Top New and Emerging Franchise Brands List for 2023, according to the list released in early May.
Mayweather Boxing + Fitness was the highest ranking of the studio brands, coming in at No. 21. KickHouse, which was purchased in October by MW Fitness Holdings LLC, the parent company of Mayweather Boxing + Fitness, also made the list, coming in at No. 101.
Four of the 13 brands on the list are owned by Xponential Fitness, which owns 10 studio brands in total.The four Xponential Fitness brands on the list were AKT, Rumble, Stride and YogaSix.
“What you’re seeing represents a wave of new energy in the franchise space, as founders realize that franchising can help their brands grow quickly and efficiently,” Entrepreneur Special Project Editor Tracy Stapp Herold wrote.
To be considered for the list, a company could only have been franchising for five years or less. Of the 1,000 brands that applied to be part of Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 list last year, 360 of them had been franchising for five years or less.
Rankings are based on information submitted to Entrepreneur for performance July 2021 to July 2022 for its annual Franchise 500 and are part of the brand’s continuing effort to best understand and evaluate the ever-changing franchise marketplace. To qualify for inclusion on the 2023 lists, the companies featured were assessed across multiple data points including unit growth, start-up costs and fees, training and support, financial stability, and brand strength.
The club and studio brands that made the list are:
No. 21: Mayweather Boxing + Fitness
No. 24: YogaSix
No. 47: AKT
No. 52: Rumble Boxing
No. 56: Body20
No. 69: StretchMed
No. 72: Stride Fitness
No. 79: Basecamp Fitness
No. 81: P-Fit the Platinum Standard of Fitness
No. 101: KickHouse
No. 109: Sweat440
No. 116: Discover Strength
No. 125: ISI Elite Training