Health Club Industry Continues Impressive Growth
Posted: April 22, 2015 in IHRSA
IHRSA: Success By Association
BOSTON, MA – More than 63 million Americans utilized a health club in 2014, up 2.3% from 2013 when 62.1 million consumers indicated using a health club. Total U.S. health club memberships exceeded 54 million.
“For the second consecutive year, total health club visits surpassed 5 billion, an impressive mark for the industry,” says Joe Moore, IHRSA’s president and CEO. “By another measure, members frequented their health clubs for an all-time high of 103 visits, on average, in 2014. These numbers demonstrate the important role health clubs play in helping more and more Americans improve their overall health and wellbeing.”
Based on a study conducted by The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) as part of the Physical Activity Council (PAC), results show that 54.1 million Americans belonged to at least one of the 34,460* health clubs nationwide. Since 2008, membership has grown by 18.6%, while the total number of consumers has increased by 19.2% over the same time.
The number of health club facilities rose by 6.4% in comparison with the previous year. In 2014, health club industry revenue in the U.S. increased to $24.2 billion, up from $22.4 billion in 2013, an improvement of 7.4%. “All key performance metrics reached an all-time high in the United States,” says Jay Ablondi, IHRSA’s executive vice president of global products. “With one in five Americans utilizing health and fitness facilities, the industry is well-positioned for future growth.”
In June, IHRSA will release the 2015 IHRSA Global Report, which will shed light on worldwide industry performance.
Methodology: Each year, IHRSA conducts an annual health club consumer study as part of the Physical Activity Council (PAC). The PAC is made up of six of the leading sports and manufacturer associations that are dedicated to growing participation in their respective sports and activities. During January 2015/early February 2015, a total of 19,240 online interviews were carried out with a nationwide sample from a U.S. Online Panel. The total panel has over 1 million members and is maintained to be representative of the U.S. population. Oversampling of ethnic groups took place to boost responses from typically under-responding groups.
*Note: InfoUSA, Inc. provides data related to the total number of club units using the Industry’s SIC code of 7991 as listed under the Yellow Pages. The recent recession has resulted in consolidation of club locations and the closure of weaker-performing clubs, while still allowing for new club locations to emerge in underserved markets. Recent years have also seen the rise of niche and theme-oriented facilities and continued growth of convenient, always open (e.g. 24 hour), and affordable fitness locations. Using InfoUSA as a benchmark, IHRSA estimates there are a total of 34,460 health club facilities in the United States as of January 1, 2015.
