Built the perfect counter to conventional fitness: short, intense workouts with set class times and a cult-like community. The open-source licensing model let anyone open a gym for $3K/year, enabling explosive growth to 13,000 gyms by 2013.
The brand became associated with danger as injury reports mounted. COVID shut gyms and killed 20% of affiliates. Then founder Greg Glassman posted inflammatory comments about George Floyd and COVID, losing Reebok's sponsorship and 7% of affiliates overnight. He was forced out, but the damage was done.
Down to 10,800 affiliates after a brief rebound. On its second sale in 5 years, third CEO. A competitor died at the 2024 Games. The flywheel is reversing.
