The fitness industry, despite being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with permanent gym closures and members leaving, is now bouncing back, according to UFC Gym CEO Adam Sedlack. And demand for UFC Gyms is at an all-time high, leading to plans to open one new UFC Gym per week moving forward.
Sedlack shared his thoughts on the industry in an interview on April 4 with Yahoo Finance reporters Brian Sozzi and Julie Hyman.
Starting in 2023 or 2024, he anticipates the company will open two to four gyms per week, driven by both domestic and international opportunities.
This is a change from the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The industry has been drastically impacted over the last couple of years,” Sedlack said, noting that in 2020 the industry lost $2 billion with 17 percent of gyms closing permanently, and 40 percent of members leaving.
Many pundits thought that virtual fitness and streaming services would take over, he said, but he has instead seen more consumer demand to be inside gyms than prior to COVID-19.
“We're seeing consumers not only want to [transition] into fitness but also want other verticals such as nutrition and recovery services to better arm them for the future in case a pandemic happens again,” he said.
The pandemic gave club operators the opportunity to enhance their businesses, he said.
“What we're seeing now is our members that love brick and mortar also love the vertical to get into the virtual platform when they're traveling or they just can't make it into the gym for the day,” he said.
During the past two years, people gained a better understanding of how vital having good physical health and a good immune system was to surviving COVID-19 if they got it.
To enhance the consumer experience and get people to use the gym more, UFC Gyms has invested in technology and recovery offerings such as cryotherapy to keep consumers more engaged and getting results, which should help with retention.
Despite these growth plans, UFC Gyms is facing staffing shortages and equipment supply chain issues.
“It's a very unique time to go out there and attract talent,” Sedlack said. “Now, thankfully, for the UFC brand, we've been able to get more people into our funnel from a fitness perspective.”
All of the permanent gym closures means there are fitness professionals available.
Supply chain issues have created equipment issues and increased costs across the board, which puts pressure on the business, he said.
“But as long as you stay true to the fundamentals in regards to the value proposition, we've been able to navigate through it just fine,” he said.
UFC Gym has more than 150 locations open throughout 37 countries, with more than 800 locations in development globally.