Club Industry's Top 100 Health Clubs of 2021

Editor’s Note: The annual Club Industry Top 100 Clubs list ranks U.S. health club companies by revenue. For the 2021 list, the companies were ranked based on 2020 revenue, not by any other metric. Club Industry allows franchisors to report revenue from corporate-owned facilities, franchisee fees and equipment fees but not revenue from individual franchisees since each franchisee can report its revenue separately to be considered for the list.

To view Club Industry’s 2021 Top 100 Health Clubs list as a PDF, click here.

To view a gallery of the Top 100 Clubs list, click here.

Because of the unusual year that 2020 was, Club Industry has put together a second story looking at additional details and trends related to this year’s list. You can read that story here.

 

One. Traditionally, the article for the annual Club Industry Top 100 Clubs list opens with the company that ranked No. 1. But this year, we lead with a different type of one — just one health club on this year’s list reported increased revenue in 2020 over 2019. (Find out more about this company, Sasquatch Strength, and why its numbers are a bit of an anomaly by going here.) Never in the more than 20 years of the Top 100 Clubs list have so many companies reported a decrease in revenue, not even during the 2008-2009 recession when 16 companies reported a decrease in 2008 revenue, 36 reported a decrease in 2009 revenue and 17 reported a decrease in 2010 revenue.

Of course, 2020 was a year like no other, which is why the 2021 Top 100 Clubs list, which ranks U.S. health clubs solely based on 2020 revenue (and no other metric), is a list like no other.

First, the list includes fewer than 100 clubs. Understandably, the owners of many health club companies were hesitant to share their numbers for 2020. Despite multiple efforts to get the usual submitters to complete their online Top 100 forms, only 80 companies did so, and of those companies, five had less than $1 million revenue, so they were not included on the list. For these reasons, this year’s list is comprised of just 75 companies. Some of the companies toward the bottom of the list likely would not have made the list in a non-COVID year except that other companies who typically make the list did not submit. (Find a list of companies who likely would qualify for the list but did not submit later in this article.)

In addition, this year’s list includes information usually requested on the submission form but never included on the list itself: the anticipated revenue change for the current year compared to the prior year. Inclusion of the column this year offers a glimpse into how optimistic or pessimistic club owners were when the data was gathered between July and August 2021. To make room for this column, the membership dues columns were removed.

Perhaps the biggest change this year is that the temporary club closures necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the industry to such an extent that one article would not do the year and its impact justice. For that reason, this article includes details about the Top 20 clubs on the list as well as a link to a PDF of the full list. However, a second article looks at some of the trends discerned from the list.

The Top 10

Life Time, Chanhassen, Minnesota, ranks No. 1 on the list this year, replacing LA Fitness, which moved to No. 2. 

Information for Life Time’s ranking came from its S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Sept. 13 prior to its initial public offering, which happened Oct. 7 as it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as LTH.

In the filing, Life Time shared its 2018, 2019 and 2020 revenue. From those numbers, Club Industry was able to calculate the revenue decline the company experienced in 2020 compared to 2019.

In 2020, Life Time reported revenue of $948 million, which was a decrease of 50 percent from its $1.9 billion in 2019.

Due to temporary closures of its facilities in 2020 from the COVID-19 pandemic, Life Time had a net loss of $360 million in 2020 compared to a profit of $30 million in 2019, according to its filing. However, revenue in the first half of 2021 was $562.5 million, an increase of 17.9 percent year over year.

LA Fitness, Irvine, California, dropped to No. 2 this year, posting $900 million in revenue for the 12 months ended March 31, 2021. Because the revenue shared for LA Fitness always comes from industry sources and was not for the calendar year, the revenue decline was not calculated. However, in 2019 calendar year, LA Fitness posted $2.15 billion in revenue.

LA Fitness has considerably more clubs at 738 than Life Time does at 155. However, many of LA Fitness’ club locations are in states such as California that were closed or restricted for longer than many of the states in which Life Time operates. In addition, Life Time’s membership dues are higher than those of LA Fitness.

24 Hour Fitness, San Ramon, California, ranks No. 3 again this year with $607 million in revenue from January 2020 to November 2020, according to industry sources. This compares to $1.471 billion in full 2019 revenue. Due to the revenue for 2020 not including December 2020, we did not calculate a revenue decrease for the company. 2020 was a tough year for 24 Hour Fitness. It was the highest-ranking club company to file for Chapter 11, which it did in June 2020. The Chapter 11 was caused by the temporary club closures due to COVID-19, according to the company. It emerged from bankruptcy on Dec. 31, 2020.

At No. 4 again this year is Equinox Holdings, New York, but with several caveats to this ranking. First, Equinox Holdings encompasses Equinox Fitness, SoulCycle, Pure Yoga, Blink Fitness, Precision Run and Equinox Media, but the 2020 revenue does not include revenue from SoulCycle, Equinox Media or Precision Run. Industry sources shared that the 2020 revenue for the rest of the Equinox Holdings properties was $410 million. For last year’s list, industry sources shared that the 2019 revenue for Equinox Holdings was $1.178 billion, which included revenue from Equinox, Blink Fitness and Pure Yoga (just two clubs) but not SoulCycle, Precision Run or Equinox Media.

Planet Fitness, Hampton, New Hampshire, comes in at No. 5 with $406.6 million in 2020 revenue. This was a 41 percent decrease from its 2019 revenue of $688.8 million. As a franchisor, Planet Fitness only reports revenue from its corporate-owned stores, franchisee fees and equipment revenue. It does not report revenue from each franchised location because each franchisee can submit to be included on the Top 100 Clubs list. At the end of 2020, Planet Fitness had 103 corporate-owned locations and 2,021 franchised locations. By the end of 2021, the company reported it will have opened more than 1,000 franchised locations.  

After Planet Fitness, the revenue on the list takes a major drop with EXOS, Phoenix, reporting $141.30 million in 2020 revenue, a 33 percent decrease from its $185.4 million in 2019 revenue. Despite that revenue decrease, EXOS moved up from No. 12 on last year’s list to No. 6 this year. It jumped over Town Sports International (which filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and did not report for this year’s list); The Bay Club Co., Pleasanton, California; United PF Holdings, Austin, Texas (a Planet Fitness franchise group that did not report its revenue this year); Orangetheory Fitness, Boca Raton, Florida; and Crunch Fitness, New York.

EXOS, a club brand for elite athletes, had 56 corporate-owned locations and 474 franchise locations at the end of 2020. It did not share how many locations it plans to open in 2021 or any estimate on revenue increase or decrease for the year. However, the company shared on its Top 100 form that it retained “a great deal of revenue and nearly all of our accounts due to the strength of our relationships and the pivot to serving an entirely remote population of clients, partners, members and athletes.”

Orangetheory Fitness came in next at No. 7 with $120 million, a 46 percent decrease from 2019 revenue. Again, as a franchisor, Orangetheory Fitness only reports revenue from corporate-owned studios and franchisee fees, not revenue from each franchised location. At the end of 2020, Orangetheory had 18 corporate-owned locations and 1,396 franchised studios. Its 2020 revenue was 46 percent under 2019 revenue, but by the end of 2021, the company anticipates it will have opened 80 franchised locations and will see a 31 percent increase in revenue.

The Bay Club Co. lands at No. 8 with $113.54 million in 2020 revenue, a 63 percent decrease from 2019 revenue. Twenty-three of the Bay Club’s clubs are in California while the remaining club is in Oregon. California was one of the states in which gyms were mandated to remain closed for the longest and were restricted the most throughout the pandemic. By the end of 2021, Bay Club anticipates it will have acquired 10 to 15 clubs, helping its revenue for the year increase 75 percent over 2020 revenue.

Xponential Fitness, Irvine, California, slipped into No. 9 with $106.59 million in 2020 revenue, according to the S-1 filing it made this summer prior to becoming a public company, now trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as XPOF. That was a 17 percent decrease in revenue from 2019 when the company reported $164.89 million in revenue. Xponential is an aggregator of nine boutique studio brands: Club Pilates, Pure Barre, CycleBar, StretchLab, AKT, Row House, YogaSix, Stride and Rumble, which it acquired in 2021. As a franchisor of these brands, the revenue reported is only from corporate-owned clubs and franchisee fees, not revenue that each franchisee earned. At the end of 2020, Xponential had 40 corporate-owned locations and 1,672 franchised locations in 48 states. By the end of 2021, it anticipates it will open between 215 and 234 franchise locations, helping it to increase its 2021 revenue by 28 percent.

That leaves Crunch Fitness, New York, to round out the top 10, reporting $86 million in 2020 revenue, a 55 decrease in revenue compared to 2019. At the end of 2020, Crunch had 29 corporate-owned facilities, 336 franchised clubs and three licensed clubs. The company plans to open 54 new franchised locations by the end of 2021 and to increase its revenue 60 percent in 2021 over 2020.

The Next 10

F45 Training, Austin, Texas, is the third club company that has filed to go public in 2021, now trading on the NYSE as FXLV. The franchisor of HIIT, circuit and functional training studios lands on the list at No. 11 with revenue of $82.3 million in 2020, according to its regulatory filing with the SEC. This was a decrease of 11 percent from 2019. F45 had 1,437 franchised locations at the end of 2020. In its second quarter 2021 financials, F45 noted that it plans to open between 220 and 260 franchised locations in 2021.

Despite filing for bankruptcy at the end of 2020, In-Shape Health Clubs still generated enough revenue at $61.3 million in 2020 (from January 2020 to Dec. 16, 2020) to rank No. 12 on the list, according to its Chapter 11 filing. The company typically does not report its revenue for the list, so it has not been ranked before. In-Shape was sold out of bankruptcy for $45 million in February 2021 to its former CEO Paul Rothbard, Aquiline Capital Partners LLC and other investor.

Chuze Fitness, San Diego, ranks No. 13 with $53 million in 2020 revenue, down 30 percent from 2019, the company reported. The high-volume, low-priced club operator had 28 corporate-owned clubs in 2020 and two franchised locations. It estimates 2021 revenue will increase 25 percent over 2020 revenue. It plans to build two clubs this year and open one more franchised location.

Mountainside Fitness, Scottsdale, Arizona, made it onto the list at No. 14 this year with $41.5 million in 2020 revenue, a decline of 10 percent. Mountainside Fitness owner Tom Hatten was vocal in his opposition to club closures in 2020, and he defied the Arizona governor’s closure orders during summer 2020, keeping his 18 clubs open and resulting in a lower decline than that of the only other Arizona-only club company, DMB Sports Clubs (Village Health Clubs), which complied with the closures and reported a decrease of 51 percent in 2020 revenue.

Mountainside anticipates its 2021 revenue will be up 20 percent over 2020 revenue as it plans to build two new clubs in 2021 while DMB anticipates an increase of 22 percent with no plans to build or acquire clubs in 2021.  

Wellbridge, Greenwood Village, Colorado, reported $38.68 million, a 52 percent decrease in 2020 revenue compared to 2019, but still high enough to rank No. 15. For 2021, the company anticipates its revenue will be flat with no plans to build or acquire new facilities in 2021. Wellbridge has clubs in six states, operating 16 of its own clubs and managing one facility for another entity.

Fitness Formula Clubs, Chicago, landed at No. 16 with $35.51 million in 2020 revenue, a decrease of 46 percent compared to the prior year. Fitness Formula owns 11 urban lifestyle full-service clubs and manages three other locations, most of which are in the Chicago area. The company has no plans to build or acquire additional clubs in 2021, but it anticipates a 30 percent increase in revenue for the year compared to 2020.

The Houstonian Club, a private health club in Houston, ranked No. 17 this year with $33.09 million in 2020 revenue, a decrease of 19 percent. The company estimates its revenue will increase 12 percent in 2021 compared to 2020.

The East Bank Club, Chicago, ranks No. 18 with $31 million in 2020 revenue, which was down 52 percent over 2019. The high-end club company estimates its revenue will increase 15 percent in 2021 over 2020.

Coming in at No. 19 is the aforementioned DMB Sports Clubs, which does business as Village Health Clubs in Phoenix. The four Village Health Clubs generated revenue of $24 million in 2020, down 51 percent.

Rounding out the top 20 is Bailey’s Gym, Jacksonville, Florida, which at the end of 2020 owned 16 HVLP clubs in Florida and Georgia. Bailey generated $22.5 million in revenue in 2020 and had one of the lowest decreases in revenue for the year at just 3 percent.

“We are lucky to live and work in a state that helped the business community stay open and use common sense guidelines,” co-owner David Bailey told Club Industry.

Helping to keep the revenue decrease so low was the fact that it added one location in 2020.

“The months after we were allowed to reopen were some of the best sales months and highest member traffic we have ever had as a company,” Bailey said. 

During the shutdown the company did top to bottom cleaning of all sites, installed air purification in its HVAC systems and did other upgrades. It also stressed freezing memberships rather than cancelling. Multiple clubs in the area closed or were slow to reopen and react.

“All of these measures played a strong role in getting back on track quickly,” he said.

By the end of the year, Bailey plans to open one new club, which will help his company increase its 2021 revenue six percent over 2020. 

Thoughts on the Future

Several club operators shared their thoughts on what they anticipate for the industry ahead.

“COVID-19 forced Crunch and other fitness companies to change directions by embracing technology and adapting to stay relevant,” Crunch CEO Jim Rowley shared with Club Industry. “But the pandemic will forever change the fitness industry in ways beyond streaming workouts and in-club safety.”

The industry has learned some “inconvenient truths” that it can tackle in 2022, he said.

“We learned that society doesn't take our industry as seriously as we thought,” Rowley said. “Yet, the fitness industry is as relevant and essential as ever. We need both to support and receive help from IHRSA and other regional advocacy groups to ensure we have a strong voice among government and business leaders.  We must build a coalition to advocate for and protect our industry in the future.”

The industry’s ability to instill the importance of preventative mental and physical health over treating illness has never been more apparent, he added, sharing that the industry came together to highlight those benefits and Crunch continues to encourage people to do their part.

“My goal is to have Crunch come through this pandemic stronger than ever by doing things the right way, being true to our brand and core values, and doing my very best to meet the needs of our team, our members, and our investors,” Rowley said.

Don Dickerson, vice president of Fitness SF, Corte Madera, California, said that throughout the pandemic, the fitness industry was lumped in with bars, restaurants and concerts while being labeled an unsafe environment that has no critical value for people's lives.

“It is imperative that we act together, regardless if we compete against one another, to change this narrative,” he said.

To do this, the industry must focus on building relationships with local city and county health directors since data shows that exercising leads to positive outcomes those with COVID-19 and other diseases, he said. Although local health departments are tasked with improving public health, their actions from the past year and a half have denied people access to their best defense against disease.

“It is imperative we help them understand this and form alliances to get people moving and healthy,” Dickerson said. “Our interests are aligned with the doctors leading these health departments, but our only path to not being closed during the next surge or the next pandemic is to help them understand the critical nature of our industry and the role we play in our members' mental and physical health.” 

More about the List

The Club Industry Top 100 Clubs list is published annually to share insights about the highest revenue-generating health club companies in the United States. The list is a barometer of the health of the industry.

The list typically is published in the summer, reflecting the revenue for the companies for the year prior. For the 2021 list, the revenue reflected is from 2020. However, not all of the non-self reported sources of financials are for the full 2020 period. When that is the case, the variation is noted.

For franchise club companies, the revenue reported is for their corporate-owned clubs and franchisee fees, but it does not include revenue generated by its franchisees because each franchisee could report their revenue for a spot on the list for themselves.

The largest club companies in the country were invited to submit their Top 100 Clubs forms online from July 12, 2021, through Aug. 31, 2021.

Missing Companies

For various reasons, some companies choose not to submit their forms each year. Where possible, Club Industry secures the information in another manner, including reviewing Securities and Exchange Commission forms (for publicly traded companies), reviewing Chapter 11 filings and other options to determine information for as many additional companies as possible.

The top four club companies on the list (Life Time Fitness, LA Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness and Equinox) typically do not report their financials, so other methods are used to determine their revenue. That was the case this year for each of these four.

In addition, Club Industry secured revenue for the following companies through these methods:

  • In-Shape Fitness: Chapter 11 filing on Dec. 16, 2020
  • F45 Training: S-1 Form filed July 15, 2021
  • Xponential Fitness: S-1 Form filed July 15, 2021

A larger than normal group of club operators declined to provide their revenue for 2020, and two club companies would only provide their revenue confidentially, so they were not included on the list. Additionally, five club operators who submitted their information had revenue under $1 million, so they were not included on the list.

Some of the clubs at the bottom of the list made the list this year only because larger club companies did not submit. Because so many club operators declined to share their information, this year’s list includes only 76 companies.

Notable large companies that did not report and for which Club Industry was unable to determine their revenue from other sources include:

  • acac Fitness and Wellness Centers, Charlottesville, Virginia
  • The Alaska Clubs, Anchorage, Alaska
  • American Family Fitness, Glen Allen, Virginia
  • Baylor Tom Landry Health & Wellness Center, Dallas
  • Beverly Hills Club, Beverly Hills, MI
  • Boston Athletic Club, Boston
  • California Family Fitness, Orangevale, California
  • Capital Fitness Inc. dba XSport
  • Cedardale Inc., Haverhill, Massachusetts
  • Centegra Health Bridge Fitness Centers, Huntley, Illinois
  • Chelsea Piers Connecticut, Stamford, CT
  • Chicago Athletic Clubs, Chicago
  • City Fitness, Philadelphia
  • ClubCorp, Dallas
  • Clubsports of San Ramon, San Ramon, California
  • Columbia Association, Columbia, MD
  • Corporate Fitness Works, St. Petersburg, Florida
  • Corporate Health Unlimited, Austell, GA
  • Curves International, Waco, Texas
  • Dedham Health and Athletic Complex, Dedham, MA
  • Eastern Athletic Clubs LLC dba Hockessin Athletic Club, Hockessin, DE
  • The Edge Fitness Clubs, Orange, Connecticut
  • Elite Sports Club, Brookfield, Wisconsin
  • Excel Fitness Holdings, Austin, TX
  • 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 International, Dallas (filed for Chapter 11 in May 2020)
  • Gold's Gym SoCal, Los Angeles
  • Healthplex Sports Club, Springfield, Pennsylvania
  • Healthtrax Fitness and Wellness, Glastonbury, Connecticut
  • 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
  • Midtown Athletic Clubs, Chicago
  • MUV Brands, Lynwood, Washington
  • O2Fitness, Raleigh, North Carolina
  • Optum On-Site Services dba Plus One, New York
  • PF Growth Partners (Brick Bodies and Planet Fitness franchise group), Timonium, Maryland
  • Powerhouse Gyms International, Novi, MI
  • Premier Health and Fitness Center Inc., Tallahassee, FL
  • PRO Sports Club, Bellevue, Washington
  • Retro Fitness, Colts Neck, New Jersey
  • Self Esteem Brands (Anytime Fitness LLC), Woodbury, Minnesota
  • Spearman Clubs Inc., Laguna Niguel, California
  • Sportime Clubs LLC, Kings Park, New York
  • Sports & Fitness Edge Inc., South Burlington, VT
  • Stone Creek Club and Spa, Covington, LA
  • Telos Fitness Center, Dallas
  • Tilton Fitness Management, Linwood, New Jersey
  • Titan Fitness Holdings (Fitness Connection), McLean, Virginia
  • Town Sports International, New York
  • UFC Gyms, Santa Ana, California
  • United PF Holdings, Austin, TX
  • VASA Fitness, Englewood, CO
  • Wisconsin Athletic Clubs, West Allis, Wisconsin
  • Workout Anytime Franchising Systems LLC, Alpharetta, GA
  • World Gym International, Los Angeles
  • Xperience Management Group LLC, Appleton, Wisconsin
  • YouFit, St. Petersburg, Florida

In 2020, many club companies filed for bankruptcy or closed. The following companies are among the largest that filed for bankruptcy:

In addition, The Claremont Club, Claremont, California, typically appears on the list and ranked No. 57 on the 2019 list with $14.26 million in 2018 revenue. (The company did not report its 2019 revenue for the 2020 list). It closed on Aug. 1, 2020  but reopened after new ownership stepped in.

Special Thanks

The Club Industry Top 100 Clubs list is a large undertaking. Club Industry thanks the following people for their help with this year’s list:

  • Rick Caro, president of Management Vision, for reviewing the list and offering insights.
  • Frank Ancharski, chief coaching officer at Club Coach Services, for soliciting club operators on Club Industry's behalf to submit their forms.
  • Mike Connors, president of Optimal Fitness Systems International, for researching fitness facilities bankruptcies in 2020
  • Dawn Hightower, contributing editor, for putting together the photo gallery.