Global Sports & Fitness Industry Insights

Health & Fitness Clubs

In exchange for a membership fee, health and fitness clubs provide the infrastructure for its customers' workouts and physical activity. The global fitness and health club sector has grown significantly in recent years, reaching a value of more than 96 billion dollars in 2019. 24 Hour Fitness and Life Time Fitness are two of the most profitable fitness clubs in the world. LA Fitness is at the absolute top of this list, with a revenue of more than two billion dollars in 2018. Many of these health clubs are only available in the United States, and the three companies mentioned above also rank first in terms of income among the country's major health clubs.

Fitness industry in Europe

The fitness industry in Europe encompasses everything from physical activity and sports participation, to health clubs and online fitness apps. It is a multi-million dollar industry, which has been severely impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. With the forced closure of fitness establishments across Europe, fitness fans were forced to find other ways to keep fit. In the United Kingdom, for example, consumers searched for fitness keywords such as "resistance bands" and "exercise bike" in an attempt to set up a gym in their own homes. Online exercise companies such as Peloton also profited from this enforced situation, reporting record revenues in 2020.

Fitness trackers

Fitness and activity trackers are electronic wearable devices that monitor health-related metrics such as walking or running, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, calorie consumption, and sleep quality. Fitness and activity trackers mostly come in the form of wristbands, although they can also appear as clip-on devices, earbuds, or clothing made of smart fabric. Besides being a standalone device, it can also exist in the form of a fitness app as software often installed on smartphones utilizing the device’s built-in components to keep track of certain activities.

Fitness industry in the United Kingdom (UK)

UK fitness hotspot

There are over 7.2 thousand health and fitness clubs in the United Kingdom, with over 10 million combined members. Only Germany has more health and fitness club members in Europe, making the UK one of the fitness hotspots across the continent. Of those health and fitness clubs in the United Kingdom, close to half are solely fitness facilities, generating a total annual turnover of approximately two billion British pounds. The largest proportion of these gyms generate a turnover between 100 and 250 thousand British pounds. Meanwhile, just a small handful of these fitness facilities report turnover reaching into the millions of British pounds.

Fitness industry in China

The fitness industry is booming in China as the Chinese middle-class have become more interested in maintaining a healthy and aspirational lifestyle. On the one hand, the number of physical fitness studios has been surging, especially in the first tier cities where annual membership fees can be as high as 6,000 yuan. On the other hand, fitness apps have seen high numbers of downloads and app usage has been fueled by social distancing due to COVID-19 pandemic across the country. Under the changing lifestyle of consumers along with technology advancement, the fitness industry has to adopt innovative ideas to cater for the efficiency and convenience preferences among the Chinese white collar population.

Fitness industry in Latin America

Technology has allowed people to have the world at their fingertips, however having access to it without the need to move has come with a price, namely a more sedentary lifestyle. The physical activity that was a natural part of daily life in the past is now something that individuals are willing to invest additional time and money in. In fact, in Latin America, the expenditure in the fitness sector reached about 5.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, with Brazil and Mexico being the countries with the highest investment in recreational physical activities.

Fitness equipment in the U.S.

Fitness equipment is a must-have for athletes and work-out enthusiasts everywhere. Though it is not necessary if one wants to exercise and build strength, fitness equipment certainly makes the process and experience easier and more customizable. Treadmills and weight machines are perfect for focusing on conditioning and building up a specific muscle group, or for precisely tracking one’s progress and calorie expenditure. In the United States, the entire sports equipment market was valued at roughly 14.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. By 2025, U.S. sports equipment market revenue is set to reach close to 16.8 billion U.S. dollars.

Market Size

A steadily growing market

The market size of the global health club industry has been growing at a very steady pace, reaching roughly 97 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. New technologies such as fitness trackers and fitness apps have also added new business opportunities to this market.

However, it is yet to be determined how strong the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be on the market, especially since fitness clubs remained closed in many countries and many amateur sports leagues suspended their seasons.

Market Segments

Wearables and fitness app sales continue to increase

The sports and fitness market includes several segments such as fitness and health clubs, the membership count of which keeps increasing. The majority of these members are in North America and Europe, with 70 million and 65 million respectively.

Other segments include sport equipment sales and sports clothing, while new technologies such as wearables and apps have also opened up even more markets.

Industry Trends

COVID-19 pandemic shaped the industry

Depending on which sports are most popular in a country and how seasonal they are can affect the sales of products as well as sports participation among the public. Globally, soccer, tennis, cricket, and basketball are among the most popular sports.

Running and jogging have also gained a lot of popularity in recent years. This growth continued during the COVID-19 pandemic as people looked for ways to keep fit and get some fresh air during periods of lockdown and gym closures.

Industry Leaders

Nike is by far the most valuable sports brand worldwide

When it comes to industry leaders in terms of brands, Nike is by far the most valuable sports brand, with its value coming in at approximately 35 billion U.S. dollars.

Sports teams and even single star athletes also have very considerable market values. The American football team Dallas Cowboys is the most valuable sports club worldwide at roughly 5.5 billion U.S. dollars. The most valuable athlete brands include Roger Federer, LeBron James, and Usain Bolt.

'Big Five'

The 'Big Five' represent the five most successful football leagues in Europe, which are made up of the Premier League in England, La Liga in Spain, the Bundesliga in Germany, Serie A in Italy and Ligue 1 in France. The combined revenue of these five leagues, which each represent the highest tier football division in their countries, has more than doubled in the past decade, reaching a total of approximately 15.1 billion euros in 2019/20.

The Premier League is the most successful football league out of the five, having reached a revenue of roughly six billion euros in 2020/21. The profitability of the Premier League was close to one billion euros in 2019. In the same year, the wage costs of the leagues ranged from approximately 1.4 billion euros in Ligue 1 in France to 3.5 billion euros in the Premier League. Moreover, the brand values of the respective leagues ranged from 1.3 billion euros in Ligue 1 to 8.6 billion euros in the Premier League.

Even though the Premier League is on top in most aspects of football in Europe, it does not have the highest average attendance. Germany's Bundesliga matches have had the highest average attendance since 2005. During the 2018/2019 season, the Bundesliga had an average attendance of 42.74 thousand, followed by the Premier League with 38.48 thousand fans. More information about the top European football leagues and the fan experience can be found in the 2021 European Football Benchmark report.