CWA Blog Archive-Gym Owners & Indoor Climbing's Boom Part 1

Gym Owners & Indoor Climbing's Boom Part 1

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Christopher Oshinski opens his profitability series with a data-rich portrait of an industry booming. The CWA's 2019 industry report surveyed 146 facilities and 96 companies out of 577 commercial gyms in North America, a figure representing 8.7% growth in total facilities over 2018, and estimated North American gym revenue at roughly $647 million. Crucially, the same survey found only 13% of full-service respondents felt their market was oversaturated, with bouldering-only operators at just 9%, indicating substantial room for new growth in most US markets without projected revenue loss from competition. Oshinski addresses an apparent anomaly. The industry reported only 36 new US openings in 2022, down from 50-plus in recent years, but this dip is believed to be residual fallout from the pandemic, which imposed new parameters on 2022 expansion decisions. Evidence for the rebound: CBJ's 2022 Gyms and Trends report slated 50 new facilities to open in 2023, returning the industry to its prior pace. The growth in climbers is equally striking. The Outdoor Foundation reported more than 5.6 million Americans, about twice Arkansas's population, consider themselves indoor climbers, a new record and over a 7% increase from 2019, reflecting steady growth even through the pandemic. The US is the largest industry market in North America. Written for owners and senior management, this first installment establishes the empirical foundation for the series' examination of profitability. The throughline is that indoor climbing is a genuinely booming industry with room to grow, most markets aren't oversaturated, participation is at record highs, and new gym development has rebounded to pre-pandemic pace. That growth story sets up the series' deeper questions about whether the industry is capturing that boom profitably and sustainably, and what challenges, from wage data gaps to staffing, the growth brings alongside its clear opportunities.

Asset Caption

Christopher Oshinski's profitability series opens with data on a booming industry: 577 North American gyms in 2019 generating ~$647 million, most markets not oversaturated, and a record 5.6 million Americans identifying as indoor climbers. A 2022 dip in openings was pandemic fallout, with new development rebounding to pre-pandemic pace.