Echelon Appoints Alex Kaplan as President
Posted: September 22, 2021 in Suppliers
Echelon
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Echelon, the connected fitness company revolutionizing the way people move, has announced the appointment of Alex Kaplan as President.
Kaplan joins Echelon after a notable career managing and scaling some of the world’s largest sports media and direct-to-consumer businesses. As a key member of the Discovery Inc. leadership team, Kaplan served as President of Discovery Golf and GOLFTV, where he built and launched Discovery’s foray into the global golf business leading innovative partnerships with the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods, and the purchase of Golf Digest. Previously, Kaplan grew Discovery’s Eurosport Digital business to more than 1 million paid subscriptions. Before Discovery, Kaplan held executive positions at the NBA where he led the global direct-to-consumer strategy. He also spent ten years at DIRECTV where he oversaw the NFL Sunday Ticket, Paid Premiums, and PPV businesses driving more than $4.5B in annual revenue.
Kaplan’s appointment follows a series of investments, including a $65M round led by Goldman Sachs in addition to other investments from North Castle Partners and United Talent Agency. These investments have helped Echelon expand an already dominant footprint in the connected fitness membership space.
“We are investing in a leadership team with a proven track record of growing highly-scaled businesses in related industries,” says Jon Canarick of North Castle Partners. “Alex is the perfect leader to spearhead the next phase of our business strategy and guide the executive team through plans for continued growth.”
With rich experience in managing complex global content programs and building scalable digital businesses, Kaplan will help accelerate Echelon’s growth by building out the company’s growing membership, content, and digital offerings.
“I couldn’t be more excited to work with our Founder and CEO Lou Lentine and the Board to help continue Echelon’s incredible growth trajectory,” said Kaplan. “Connected Fitness is a dynamic, massive market, and I believe Echelon is uniquely positioned to take more market share.”
The connected fitness industry has a global TAM projected to reach $115B by 2025. Echelon’s distribution footprint includes more than 25 retail partners worldwide with exclusive products designed for Amazon, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Costco, and Sam’s Club. With accessible price points and world-class content, Echelon is poised to maximize growth over the coming years. Echelon will continue providing consumers with compelling fitness offerings that drive engagement and customer loyalty, with studios in Miami, Chattanooga, France, Germany, Columbia, the UK, and soon Japan (2022), as well as a significant investment in building out a robust variety of live and on-demand content.
“As our company continues to innovate, we have fine-tuned our leadership team to propel and solidify Echelon’s future,” said Lou Lentine, CEO of Echelon Fitness. “Alex Kaplan has the exact experience, capability, and mindset for the job ahead. We have already shown our keen ability in meeting consumer demand. Now, we’re focused on what’s next.”
Echelon: A Successful Ride and a Bright Future
- A projected revenue surge of 25% in 2021 over 2020;
- The brand will approach 10X growth over the past 24 months;
- Echelon recently opened a 70,000-square-foot warehouse in Chattanooga, TN with additional facilities in both California, Nevada, and Miami, as well as studios in the UK, France, Germany, Columbia and Japan (coming in 2022);
- In 2021, Echelon will be among the most widely distributed connected fitness brands worldwide;
- Continuing their upward trajectory of cutting-edge yet affordable product development, the company will soon launch an entry level subscription tier allowing for better retail customer retention and growth of a digital-only customer base.
