Sweat Equity. Jason Kelly

staff and instructors, equipment, and maintenance – are effectively fixed. With those contracts in hand, the gym operator also knows the revenue side, with very little downside risk. Once a contract is signed, the member is obligated to pay the monthly fee, or face a stiff penalty that’s designed to recoup enough of the money owed to make it hurt the member. Plus, that penalty can be easily modeled into the gym’s business plan.

      1

      Alexandra Plessier, “Wellness Is Now a $3.4 Trillion Global Industry – Three Times Bigger Than the Worldwide Pharmaceutical Industry!” http://blog.globalwellnesssummit.com/2014/10/wellness-is-now-a-3-4-trillion-global-industry-three-times-bigger-than-the-worldwide-pharmaceutical-industry.

      2

      Running Event Finishers, 1990–2013. Running USA, www.runningusa.org/statistics.

      3

      Blake Whitney, “Ironman’s First Champ, Gordon Haller, Looks Back 25 Years,” Active, October 20, 2003,

1

Alexandra Plessier, “Wellness Is Now a $3.4 Trillion Global Industry – Three Times Bigger Than the Worldwide Pharmaceutical Industry!” http://blog.globalwellnesssummit.com/2014/10/wellness-is-now-a-3-4-trillion-global-industry-three-times-bigger-than-the-worldwide-pharmaceutical-industry.

2

Running Event Finishers, 1990–2013. Running USA, www.runningusa.org/statistics.

3

Blake Whitney, “Ironman’s First Champ, Gordon Haller, Looks Back 25 Years,” Active, October 20, 2003, www.active.com/triathlon/articles/ironman-s-first-champ-gordon-haller-looks-back-25-years.

4

Kate Lewis, “Is Rapid Growth Endangering the Ironman and Endurance Sports?” Glideslope Runway Blog, October 14, 2014, www.theglideslope.com/runway/is-rapid-growth-endangering-the-ironman-and-endurance-sports/.

5

Kevin Helliker, “Ironman to Be Acquired by China’s Dalian Wanda,” Wall Street Journal, August 27, 2015, www.wsj.com/articles/ironman-to-be-acquired-by-chinas-dalian-wanda-1440642571.

6

Pamela Kufahl, “Club Industry Features Clubs of the 1980s,” Club Industry, December 1, 2008, http://clubindustry.com/25th-anniversary/club-industry-features-clubs-1980s.

7

International Health, Racquet, & Sportsclub Association, www.ihrsa.org/about-the-industry/.