(Editors’ Note: The COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to collect data for this year’s list, which means the 2020 Top 100 list not only is being published later than normal but also includes just 71 clubs. The companies on the Top 100 Clubs list are ranked by 2019 gross revenue, not by any other standard. Club Industry allows franchisors to report revenue from corporate-owned facilities and franchisee fees but not revenue from individual franchisees, as each franchisee can report its revenue separately to be considered for the list.)
To view Club Industry’s 2020 Top 100 Health Clubs list as a PDF, click here.
If 2020 taught us anything, it was that nothing would be normal. That is true of the 2020 Club Industry Top 100 list, which is being released four months later than normal. As stated in the editor’s note, the chaos of 2020 made it difficult to collect data as health clubs in most states were closed when data collection began and then were in the process of reopening and later reclosing for some. Because of that, Club Industry received responses from just 71 clubs. Rather than estimate the 2019 revenue from the missing clubs, Club Industry chose to include on the list only clubs that submitted their revenue for 2019 along with some of the top health clubs for which we could gather their revenue using other resources.
Remember that this list is based on 2019 revenue, not 2020 revenue.
The top three clubs on the list remained stable in 2020 with LA Fitness at No. 1 (with $2.15 billion), Life Time at No. 2 (with $1.9 billion) and 24 Hour Fitness at No. 3 (with $1.47 billion) in 2019 revenue. The revenues from these companies were collected from industry sources rather than submitted by the companies themselves, which is normal for these three brands.
Equinox Holdings, which owns Equinox, Blink Fitness, SoulCycle and Pure Yoga, ranked No. 4 on the 2019 list and likely would have ranked No. 4 on the 2020 list, but unlike the 2019 list, the revenue for the 2020 list does not include revenue from SoulCycle and only includes revenue from two Pure Yoga clubs. For that reason, Equinox Holdings' revenue may appear to have decreased from 2018 to 2019, but it likely was higher.
Because of this, Club Corp jumped ahead of Equinox this year, ranking No. 4 with the company reporting $1.2 billion in 2019 revenue, a 4.9 percent increase from 2018.
No. 6 on the list was franchisor Planet Fitness, which as a public company reported its 2019 revenue at $688.8 million. This is revenue from its 91 company-owned clubs and revenue from franchisee fees, but it does not include revenue from its 2,001 franchised locations (as of end of 2019). Each franchisee can be on the list based on its own revenue numbers, and this year, two of Planet Fitness’ franchisees are on the list separately, using numbers gathered through industry sources. United PF Holdings, Austin, Texas, which is the largest Planet Fitness franchise group, ranks No. 9 for its first appearance on the list with $246 million in 2019 revenue, according to a source. Excel Fitness Holdings, Austin, Texas, is another large Planet Fitness franchise group, and it ranks No. 16 on the list with $136 million in 2019 revenue, according to an industry source.
Town Sports International, which recently was delisted from Nasdaq as a public company, was still public earlier in 2020 when it reported its 2019 revenue was $466.76 million, which was a 5.3 percent increase from its 2018 revenue. That lands the company at No. 7 on this year’s list. Town Sports operates brands such as New York Sports Clubs, Boston Sports Clubs, Philadelphia Sports Clubs, Washington Sports Clubs, Lucille Roberts, Total Woman Gym and Spa, Palm Beach Sports Clubs, Christi’s Fitness, Around the Clock Fitness and LIV Fitness. It filed for Chapter 11 restructuring on Sept. 14.
No. 8 on the list is Bay Club, Pleasanton, California, with $302.58 million in 2019 revenue, according to the company, which owns 24 clubs on the West Coast.
No. 9 was the aforementioned United PF Holdings.
Orangetheory Fitness rounds out the top 10, with reported $243.49 million in 2019 revenue from company-owned clubs and franchisee fees. (Again, this does not include dues revenue from its 1,317 franchisee locations.)
Crunch Fitness, New York, ranked No. 11 with $200 million in 2019 revenue, a 10 percent increase from 2018, according to the company. This number includes revenue from the company’s 55 company-owned clubs as well as franchisee fees from the company’s 290 franchisees, but it does not include the franchisees’ revenue.
EXOS, Phoenix, ranked No. 12 with 2019 revenue of $185 million from its 56 company-owned clubs and management fees from its 452 managed facilities. This was a 3 percent increase from 2018, according to the company.
No. 13 on the list at $164.89 million was Xponential Fitness LLC, Irvine, California. Xponential’s portfolio includes four company-owned clubs and 1,456 franchise locations under the brands Club Pilates, CycleBar, StretchLab, Row House, AKT, YogaSix, Pure Barre and Stride. The revenue includes that from the company-owned clubs as well as franchisee fees from the franchised locations. It does not include revenue from each individual franchisee. On last year’s list, three of the Xponential brands reported their revenue separately. Club Pilates ranked No. 28 on last year’s list with 2018 revenue of an estimated $52.32 in company-owned club revenue and franchisee fees. Pure Barre ranked No. 40 last year with $30 million in 2018 revenue from company-owned club revenue and franchisee fees. And CycleBar reported separately for last year’s list, ranking No. 60 with $13.61 million in 2018 revenue, again, from company-owned club revenue and franchisee fees.
Chelsea Piers Connecticut, Stamford, Connecticut, ranked No. 14 with $145 million in reported revenue. It has three locations in New York and Connecticut. Its revenue increased by five percent from 2018 to 2019.
Midtown Athletic Clubs, Chicago, came in at No. 15 with $138 million, a six percent increase from 2018 revenue. The company had eight clubs and managed 23 others in 2019.
The rest of the top 20 includes the aforementioned Excel Fitness Holdings at No. 16, VASA Fitness with $118 million at No. 17, Fitness Formula Clubs with $66 million at No. 18, East Bank Club with $65 million at No. 19, and Powerhouse Gyms with $57 million at No. 20.
To view the full list, click here.
Top 100-Caliber Companies Not on the List
Every year, several companies who deserve to be on the list decline to provide their information, and we are unable to secure accurate estimates from other sources, so they are left off the list.
Below is a list of clubs that were on the 2019 list that are not on this year’s list. We’ve noted their 2018 revenue from the 2019 list so you can see where they may have landed on the 2020 list.
- Gold’s Gym, Dallas: $302 million (reported by the company)
- Capital Fitness Inc. dba XSport: $204.8 million (estimated by Club Industry)
- UFC Gyms, Santa Ana, California: $151 million (reported by company)
- Anytime Fitness LLC, Woodbury, Minnesota: $132.90 million (reported by company)
- Optum On-Site Services dba Plus One, New York: $101.8 million (estimated by Club Industry)
- Wellbridge, Greenwood Village, Colorado: $85 million (reported by company)
- Acac Fitness and Wellness Centers, Charlottesville, Virginia: $68.01 million (reported by company)
- YogaWorks, Culver City, California: $59.6 million (reported by company)
- Chuze Fitness, San Diego, California: $59 million (reported by company)
- MUV Brands, Lynwood, Washington: $57.44 million (estimated by Club Industry)
- Sportime Clubs LLC, Kings Park, New York: $52.14 million (estimated by Club Industry)
- Xperience Management Group LLC, Appleton, Wisconsin: $41.2 million (estimated by Club Industry)
- MVP Sports Clubs, Orlando, Florida: $38.39 million (reported by company)
- Healthtrax Fitness and Wellness, Glastonbury, Connecticut: $33.66 million (reported by company)
- Clubsports of San Ramon, San Ramon, California: $20.16 million (estimated by Club Industry)
- Tilton Fitness Management, Linwood, New Jersey: $17.77 million (estimated by Club Industry)
- Corporate Fitness Works, St. Petersburg, Florida: $16.13 million (reported by company)
- Elite Sports Club, Brookfield, Wisconsin: $15.84 million (reported by company)
- City Fitness, Philadelphia: $14.79 million (reported by company)
- The Claremont Club, Claremont, California: $14.26 million (reported by company)
- Ochsner Fitness Center, Harahan, Louisiana: $13.69 million (estimated by Club Industry)
- Centegra Health Bridge Fitness Centers, Huntley, Illinois: $12.33 million (reported by company)
The following companies did not submit for the 2019 list or the 2020 list, but they likely qualify to be listed as a Top 100 Club:
- The Alaska Clubs, Anchorage, Alaska
- American Family Fitness, Glen Allen, Virginia
- Baylor Tom Landry Health & Wellness Center, Dallas
- Brick Bodies, Timonium, Maryland
- California Family Fitness, Orangevale, California
- Cedardale Inc., Haverhill, Massachusetts
- Chicago Athletic Clubs, Chicago
- Curves International, Waco, Texas
- The Edge Fitness Clubs, Orange, Connecticut
- Exhale Spa, New York
- Fitness 19, Maple Valley, Washington
- Fitness USA, West Bloomfield, Michigan
- Franklin Athletic Club, Southfield, Michigan
- Genesis Health Clubs, Wichita, Kansas
- Gold's Gym SoCal, Los Angeles
- Healthplex Sports Club, Springfield, Pennsylvania
- In-Shape Health Clubs, Stockton, California
- Iowa Sports Clubs, New York City
- Jersey Strong, Wall, New Jersey
- Las Vegas Athletic Clubs, Las Vegas
- Lift Brands, Chanhassen, Minnesota
- Lowell Management (Gold's Gym Virginia and Wisconsin), Aspen, Colorado
- O2Fitness, Raleigh, North Carolina
- PRO Sports Club, Bellevue, Washington
- Retro Fitness, Colts Neck, New Jersey
- Saco Sport & Fitness, Saco, Maine
- Spearman Clubs Inc., Laguna Niguel, California
- Titan Fitness Holdings (Fitness Connection), McLean, Virginia
- Wisconsin Athletic Clubs, West Allis, Wisconsin
- World Gym International, Los Angeles
- YouFit, St. Petersburg, Florida