CrossFit’s Affiliate Fee Increase One Year Later: How Are Gyms Adapting?

A little over a year ago, CrossFit LLC raised its annual affiliate fee for the first time in more than a decade, increasing the cost of affiliation from $3,000 to $4,500.

• As expected, affiliate owners had mixed feelings. Some applauded CrossFit’s decision to raise the rate, while others threatened to de-affiliate. Others were upset that CrossFit broke its promise to never increase the grandfathered rate.

In exchange for the fee increase, CrossFit CEO Don Faul said that the company pledged to deliver more value to affiliates so they can “build a strong, sustainable business.”

So, where are we one year later? How much did the fee increase impact affiliates? Do gym owners feel they receive more value today? How many have left the brand?

Answering these questions is challenging, to say the least, but here is what we do know.

What Gym Owners Are Saying

We conducted a small survey of gym owners and quickly received 365 responses.

Arthur Pruneda, Brandon Couden, and Pete Mongeau are three owners who have decided to remain affiliated for various reasons. 

Pruneda, the owner of CrossFit Unchained in San Antonio, TX, said the fee increase “was not a challenge,” and he remains happily affiliated. Additionally, he has received “several leads” from CrossFit HQ through their website. 

“[That] has been a nice added value since it wasn’t something we had in the past,” Pruneda said.

Couden, the owner of the 700-member CrossFit Grandview in Columbus, OH, is another who remains “proudly affiliated.” Although he hasn’t seen more value as a result of the increased rate, he said he has always received value from CrossFit.

That being said, he also described this past year as “a tough year for CrossFit overall” and noted that “it’s clear things are shifting” with CrossFit being on the market. However, he remains hopeful for the future. 

• “We have lost some momentum over the past few years, and my hope is that new leadership can help us regain it,” Couden said. “This fitness methodology, this sport, and this lifestyle: it works. It’s powerful. It changes lives. We just need a strong leader, a clear direction, and a return to the roots that made it so special in the first place.”

Finally, Mongeau, the owner of Zanshin Fitness in Peachtree Corners, GA, is less optimistic about the state of CrossFit than Couden. Still, he remains loyal. 

“For right now, the fee I pay is to use the name and to continue supporting the brand that brought me to the dance 13 years ago,” he said.

CrossFit Affiliate Numbers

On March 25, 2024, the CrossFit Affiliate Map indicated there were 11,366 affiliates worldwide. 

• Exactly one year later, this figure had decreased to 9,899, reflecting a 13% drop over the 12 months. At the time of publication, the total number on the map is 9,836.

While this statistic is undeniably concerning for CrossFit’s future, it’s challenging to determine how much the increase in affiliate fees has contributed to the decline in CrossFit affiliates or whether other factors are involved. 

Furthermore, it’s difficult to ascertain how many of those lost affiliates de-affiliated from CrossFit and how many closed their gyms entirely for various reasons. 

According to Two-Brain Business owner and gym mentor Chris Cooper, gyms are closing at “an alarming rate,” and the reasons go well beyond the $1,500 fee increase.

• “The public story is that the brand is thriving, but behind the scenes, thousands of gym owners are struggling to keep their businesses open – not because they’re bad coaches but because they don’t know how to run businesses,” Cooper wrote in a recent blog post.

Worth noting: We do know that 10 former CrossFit affiliates in Norway, all owned by Functional Fitness Group, de-affiliated recently. This was primarily due to the fee increase, which, combined with an unfavorable exchange rate, meant that being a CrossFit affiliate was no longer beneficial to their business.

• “Altogether, our affiliate fees total nearly $50,000 per year, close to 550,000 NOK,” Functional Fitness Group CEO Eivind Dahl Ringard said. He made the decision to de-affiliate 10 of their 16 gyms.

The Big Picture

We know three things:

• CrossFit is for sale.
• The cost of owning a CrossFit gym has increased.
• CrossFit affiliation has decreased considerably in the last year.

While it’s unclear exactly how much last year’s affiliate fee increase contributed to the decline, there are 1,400 fewer CrossFit gyms on the affiliate map today, and it is evident that the brand is at a crossroads.

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