1.1 Definition and presentation

Coaching refers to the practice of providing a personalized support for the realization of the client’s improvement aimed at achieving a goal. Coaching has been traditionally associated with sports, although there are different areas one would want to improve, such as the personal or professional spheres.

Referring to the most popular type of coaching, the sports one, it is possible to affiliate the latter with fitness instructors or personal trainers. Although the definition of coaching is slightly different from the one of trainer, for the scope and delimitation of the market study, we will refer to all three figures.

The sport coaching market in the US has shown considerable growth in the last ten years, representing one of the fastest growing industries, as a number of macro trends affecting consumers’ behaviors, lifestyle and choices have proven to be positively impactful towards the rise of the market. According to Ibis the US sport coaching market size in 2021 has reached 9.3 billion dollars and it has grown 0.2% per year on average between 2016 and 2021

The fitness market, on the other hand, involves all sports centers where one can engage in physical activity related to the well-being of the body. Typically, fitness centers provide the resources for individual exercise, group classes, personalized coaching, and relaxation through for example spa and Zen rooms.

We can therefrore say that the coaching and the fitness markets are inevitably interrelated and are likely to move in similar directions and, within the scope of this study, we will therefore treat them and their figures as such.

1.2 US’ market outlook

Considering that the definition of Fitness is "striving for and achieving a good physical condition" [***], the concept by itself cannot be considered as a standalone market and will thus be affiliated, within the scope of this study, with the broader sports coaching and fitness clubs markets as these are the physical ...

1.3 COVID-19 Effect and Growth of Digital and at-home Fitness

The COVID-** Pandemic has inevitably affected many different sectors, some of which will never be the same. The Fitness and Sports Industries, in particular, have been extremely impacted by the health crisis which can be considered as the biggest disruption these industries have ever faced.

The IHRSA estimated that the US ...

2.1 Sport engagement

The sport coaching market is hard to define and synthetize, as no clear perimeter is set around the scope of the market. Indeed, throughout the demand analysis, different determining factors will be analyzed, which are belived to have an impact on the overall fitness and wellness industry.

The number of people ...

2.2 Potential growing demand for fitness

Demand for personal training and coaching is expected to benefit from the two sides of the coin of American society. In the last ** years two phenomena have indeed been progressively affecting Americans: on one side the obesity and overweight rates have grown and on the other exercising rates and the general ...

2.3 Personalization is changing Americans' approach to exercise

According to the latest survey of MyProtein Americans spend circa USD ***,*** in their entire life time for fitness related expenses, which when decomposed on a monthly basis, highlights the increasing relevance that customization is having on purchasing habits and choices of American citizens. [***]

Fitness purchases, by category US, ****, in % Source: ****

Moreover, ...

3.1 Health and Fitness centers continue to grow in the US

The US gym market, which includes both health and fitness centers, is among the largest in the world, having reached in **** a figure of **.*** centers [***]. The market is undoubtedly saturated, as it counts a considerably large number of facilities and has shown a steady growth between **** and ****, however, Ibis estimated an ...

3.2 Geographical distribution is consistent with “healthier states”

Number of gyms per state

Gym and health clubs presence has increased considerably throughout the years, although not in a uniform manner across the entire United States. Indeed, the number of facilities varies greatly from state to state, the range goes as high as to reach in **** circa **** gyms in California ...

4.1 A number of structure sizes and offerings

Gyms can differ greatly based on the size, the programs offered and consequently the perceived value for the customer (***).

One can identify three major types of training facilities:

Source: ****

In addition to the layout, the services provided vary greatly, specifically in terms of number and type.

Source: ****

Workouts can indeed involve ...

4.2 Two forces transforming the traditional landscape

Traditional gym offerings as we once knew them are disappearing or rather facing increasing competition due to the boom of two alternative facilities.

High-value, low price clubs (***) Boutique fitness studios

These two forces are believed to stand at the far opposite sides of the spectrum, targeting extremely different consumers, sparking in ...

5.1 Fragmented regulation

It is hard to establish general guidelines and principles concerning the regulatory framework of health clubs, as it varies greatly from state to state. Thus, the first step to take is to understand the required business permit and license to open a business in a specific state. A common point would ...

Positioning of Main Actors

In order to better visualize the data highlighted by the tables in section *.* and to grasp the differences between the two types of Fitness centers which are dominating the market (***) the following positioning map can be useful. The upper right corner – in which the most popular boutique studios are positioned – identifies ...