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Newly released research from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) shows that the world’s successful fitness clubs are continually reinvesting in their offerings for members.

IHRSA’s newly released annual Industry Data Survey (IDS) results and the accompanying publication, IHRSA Profiles of Success, shows that leading fitness clubs reinvested more than one out of every five revenue dollars, posted 6% revenue growth and 4% net membership growth in 2016.

The report provides a detailed analysis of the annual performance of leading health and fitness clubs, including results in key metrics such as revenue, membership growth and retention, traffic, payroll, non-dues revenue, and EBITDA. Club reinvestment and profit centre analysis as well as income statement and balance sheet data are also provided.

Commenting on the findings, said Jay Ablondi, IHRSA's Executive Vice President of Global Products, stated "IHRSA's annual Industry Data Survey results show how leading club operators stand out, posting strong performance in financial and membership indicators.

“While the overall sample posted solid results, club operators among the top 25% in terms of club reinvestment continued to outperform their peers. According to the latest survey, these clubs allocated 20% of total revenue to club reinvestment and outperformed the overall sample in revenue growth, EBITDA, and net membership growth.”

A total of 113 club companies, representing 6,391 locations, participated in the IDS.

Overall, clubs posted net membership growth of 2.9% from 2015 to 2016. EBITDA and revenue growth were recorded at 16.8% and 3.2%, respectively. As a whole, participating clubs indicated reinvesting 6.6% of total revenue.

Top performers, who typically reinvested 20.4% of total revenue, posted revenue growth of 6.4%, net membership growth of 4.3%, and had an EBITDA of 23.5%.

Profiles of Success also provides key performance indicators by club type and size along with profit centre analyses.

Key findings include:

• Multipurpose facilities posted 2.8% revenue growth, while fitness-only clubs recorded 5.1% revenue growth.
• The smallest club segment (under 2320 metre²) posted the greatest net membership growth at 6.3%.
• Among participating clubs, personal training is the number one profit centre, accounting for a median of 8.4% of total revenue generated.
• At fitness-only clubs, small group training ranked second among leading profit centres, while racquet claimed second at multipurpose clubs.

IHRSA’s Senior Research Manager Melissa Rodriguez added “with Profiles of Success, club operators can compare their performance results across profit centers, membership growth and traffic as well as income and expense categories.

“Along with The IHRSA Health Club Consumer Report, Profiles is an annual must-have publication for any club operator seeking to better understand health club performance, improve insights on fitness consumers, and, ultimately, grow their business.”

For more information on IHRSA publications go to ihrsa.org/profiles 

Lower image: Jay Ablondi.

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