Although rumors had circulated for some time, CrossFit LLC confirmed last week that it’s for sale.
- But who would want to buy CrossFit, considering all that has transpired in the last year:
- Lazar Đukić’s tragic death at the 2024 CrossFit Games.
- CrossFit’s lack of transparency after their third-party investigation was complete.
- A sizeable number of high-level athletes are boycotting the 2025 season, with many citing their frustrations and mistrust toward CrossFit as their main reason.
- A steep decline in Open registration, total affiliate count, and livestream viewership.
Beyond the obvious recent controversies, Two-Brain Business founder Chris Cooper — who has mentored thousands of affiliate owners over the years — said there’s an even bigger problem.
- “Most CrossFit gyms have operated at breakeven, or worse, for years,” Cooper said. “And now, as competition grows and rent increases, many are going under.”
Cooper first opened his affiliate, CrossFit Catalyst, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario., in 2008.
“The problem is, CrossFit HQ never taught gym owners how to run a business,” Cooper said. “Worse, the information they did provide was often misleading or harmful.”
For the record: Even CrossFit CEO Don Faul admitted in 2023 that there are “too many gyms who…could be doing a lot better financially.”
Cooper recently wrote this blog outlining CrossFit’s various problems and offered a potential solution for new buyers to take CrossFit in a better direction.
- In short, Cooper argued that CrossFit’s new owners should focus their attention on helping affiliates with the business side of things, which HQ has never done well.
Case in point: In the early days, CrossFit founder Greg Glassman’s philosophy was always to let the market decide. His motto was: “The best gyms will survive, and the weak ones will fail.”
- “But here’s the problem: Glassman never defined what made a gym good,” Cooper said. “A good affiliate isn’t just one with great coaching. A good affiliate is one that is financially sustainable.”
Later, when Eric Roza purchased CrossFit from Glassman in 2020, he often talked about how one of his main priorities was helping affiliates be more financially successful. Some efforts were made to provide resources and other initiatives were launched, but they arguably haven’t made much of a difference.
4 Things CrossFit Can Do “Before it’s Too Late” (According to Cooper)
1. “Rethink the Big-Group Model”
Even though Glassman coached his clients via personal training and small groups, by 2006, Cooper said the message to affiliates became: “Pack your classes, keep prices low, and just make it work.”
For the most part, this is still what the vast majority of affiliates are doing today: They’re running large group classes and charging an average monthly rate of $167 a month (according to Two-Brain’s 2024 State of the Industry Report).
- “But this model is failing,” Cooper said.
What works better, Cooper offered, is semi-private training and pricing that focuses on increasing average revenue per member (ARM). Cooper told us that “semi-private training” means a system where “everyone’s doing different programs but sharing a coach.”
Two-Brain gyms are “doing a mix,” Cooper said, of big group, personal training, small group, and semi-private training, and many are in transition.
The result: Cooper said that moving away from the big group class model allows gyms to operate in smaller facilities that cost less and increase their ARM and coach pay (meaning coach retention improves, as well.)
One more thing: After coaching CrossFit for 15 years and speaking to hundreds of affiliate owners each year — first when I was a writer for the CrossFit Journal and now with the Morning Chalk Up — I couldn’t agree more with Cooper: The big group model and the low prices associated with it doesn’t generally lend itself to a profitable business.
- Further, regarding semi-private training, I recently became acquainted with a mastermind group called the Iron Circle. This group is made up of high-earning small gym owners, dozens of whom earn well over $1 million a year, and some of whom earn seven figures at more than one location.
They all have one thing in common: They follow the semi-private training model and charge three to four times what the average CrossFit gym charges. Some of the gyms in the group came from the CrossFit or big group model but switched to semi-private training and haven’t looked back.
2. “Teach Affiliates Basic Business Metrics”
Instead of the Level 2 coaching credential being a requirement for all affiliate owners, Cooper said, “a business education should be” the prerequisite.
- “Every new affiliate should know how to read a profit and loss statement before they open…They should understand ARM and length of engagement (LEG)—the two most critical numbers in gym profitability,” he said.
Further, affiliate owners need to learn how to price their services “correctly” instead of “relying on the failed big group model” to set prices, Cooper added.
3. “Prequalify Mentors Who Give Advice on the CrossFit Platform”
Currently, CrossFit chooses its business mentors based on how long they’ve owned a gym, “not
how successful that gym has been,” Cooper said.
- “Many of the mentors they put on stage never ran profitable gyms,” he said.
Cooper suggests that future mentors should have to show their data to prove their success before they can be qualified to lead other gym owners.
4. “Redefine the Brand”
In Cooper’s opinion, the CrossFit brand “has no definition.”
- “Ask someone on the street for the difference between CrossFit and Orange Theory, F45, or bootcamp, and they’ll probably mention either the equipment or say. ‘I don’t know,’” he said.
In its early days, the brand was known for “forging elite fitness,” but more recently, there has been an attempt to change its message to say, “CrossFit is for everyone.”
Cooper doesn’t think this is helping.
- “Everything’s for everyone now,” he said.
In this sense, according to Cooper, the CrossFit brand doesn’t currently stand for anything meaningful.
The Big Picture: New Owners Have the Ability to Save CrossFit
Cooper says there’s an opportunity for CrossFit to “turn the ship around” if it gets new owners — but it all starts with affiliates. More specifically, it starts by overhauling the current system so affiliates can finally become more financially profitable.
- “Give them help from real experts with real data, instead of regurgitating the old myths louder and faster,” he said. “Make the affiliates stronger, and then get out of their way. They’ll save CrossFit.”
More CrossFit Stories
- CrossFit Open 25.3 Livestream Views Plummet
- CrossFit CEO Don Faul Addresses Sale Rumors, Concerns in Affiliate Town Hall Meeting
- 2025 CrossFit Open Workout 25.3 Released — Get Tips and Strategies From Top Coaches
Featured Image: @twobrainbusiness / Instagram
