FranCloud Research · Data study
The fitness franchise consolidation wave
The fitness franchise buyer is no longer a gym owner. Four holding companies now control procurement for 8,605 locations. This is the consolidation wave reshaping the $35B fitness franchise market.
What’s inside
- The Big Four mapped: Purpose Brands (3,750u), Xponential (1,881u), Unleashed (1,339u), Kahala (635u), every brand, every unit count.
- Growth bifurcation inside Xponential: Club Pilates +18.5% vs CycleBar −15.5%, same holding company, completely different urgency.
- The Planet Fitness anomaly: 2,568 units at $1.87M AUV, already consolidated by multi-unit operators without PE.
- Tech greenfield analysis: 925 brands, 451 systems, no vendor with >7 mandates. The fitness tech stack is wide open.
- Vendor playbook: who to call, what to pitch, and how to tailor your message to each platform's growth trajectory.
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