IHRSA Teams Up with MXM for ‘Visit-to-Virus’ Ratio Tracker
Posted: July 23, 2020 in IHRSA, Suppliers
MXM
BOSTON, MA – The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) and MXM have formed a research team in the hopes of gathering “visit-to-virus” ratio data from health and fitness clubs across the U.S. and Canada. The goal of the tracker is to challenge the idea that health and fitness facilities are guilty of assisting in the transmission of coronavirus.
Currently, IHRSA and MXM are collecting data from clubs in the hopes of reporting on 40-50 million member visits and to establish a “visit-to-virus” ratio for every state/province.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, the cleanliness and safety of health and fitness clubs has been in debate,” said Helen Durkin, IHRSA’s executive vice president of public policy. “IHRSA is pleased to partner with MXM in the ‘Visit-to-Virus’ study to once again raise the fact that clubs are doing everything they can to keep members, staff, and the community safe, and that these facilities are not contributing to the spread of COVID-19.”
As the fitness industry’s only trade association, IHRSA, along with MXM, invite all health and fitness clubs in the U.S. and Canada to participate in the study. Clubs can do so by registering on MXM’s website. All information included in the report will be anonymous and aggregated by state/province.
MXM, a “knowledge transfer company” specializing in the fitness industry, is no stranger to engaging with those in the industry and collating data. MXM CEO Blair McHaney’s data regarding gym check-ins and COVID-19 cases opened—some—eyes earlier this month. The results of the check-in data have been included in many outlets, such as Baird Active Lifestyles.
Jonathan Komp, Baird’s senior analyst, writes, “We note some encouraging signs that industry leaders are helping to differentiate the safety/benefits of keeping gyms open as compared to other businesses like bars (with data from Blair McHaney of MXM/Medallia showing 0.004% positive cases among a sample of >3.4M gym check-ins) – a positive development if such progress continues.”
MXM has taken it upon themselves to do everything possible to help the fitness industry get through the pandemic. “When IHRSA was cancelled this year, we knew it was going to be especially tough on the fitness industry and we felt that we were in the right position with the right relationships and knowledge to help,” said McHaney. “We have kept our entire team in place and redirected all resources to do everything we can to help the fitness industry overcome the damage of the pandemic from both a financial and an image perspective.”
IHRSA and MXM are now asking for the U.S. and Canadian fitness industry to do their part. To further promote that health and fitness clubs are safe and clean, clubs can submit their data in the ongoing “visit-to-virus” ratio study by registering through the form on MXM’s website.
