Annual Planning: The Intramural Open and Revenue Generation

Three women laugh while competing in a tug of war as part of the Intramural Open in a gym.

Competitions at your gym can be great for retention and revenue generation—but only if you have a plan.

If you throw things together at the last minute, you won’t get the full return on your investment.

To help you improve length of engagement and add revenue in 2023, I’ve got an annual plan for you. It’s available in the Gym Owners United group on Facebook.

Here, I’ll tell you why you’ll find a series of competitions on my suggested calendar for gym owners.


Competition and Retention


Fact: Very few gym members will quit if they’re training for something.

Sure, the odd person will have a blow-up and walk at a weird time. But retention patterns are predictable, and gym owners who analyze their client journeys will see clear drop-off points. That’s why we recommend doing goal reviews with clients around the 90-day mark, for example.

We also know that a competition gives people a goal and a purpose. For example, at my gym, Catalyst, we know August is a tough time for retention. In my area, people often vanish to the lake in late summer and forget about the gym. So the September Catalyst Games give them a reason to stay on track in summer. If they’re training with a purpose, they’ll be much less likely to cancel or hold memberships.

Bonus: These competitions give me a chance to put participants on podiums and celebrate them. We’ll call out their PRs from the mountaintops, make them feel like superstars and generate tons of good feelings. All that helps retention, too.

I recommend gym owners use competitions strategically throughout the year, and Two-Brain’s signature event is the Intramural Open—which can also generate revenue for the gym.


The Intramural Open and Revenue

Short history: More than a decade ago, I created this event for my gym based on intramurals at my high school. In the Intramural Open, you divide your gym into teams and compete for several weeks. Clients work out, score points for their teams, make new connections to other members and have lots of fun. This event can be run independently or connected to the CrossFit Games Open.

The best part: If you run the event properly, you’ll have a host of ways to increase revenue. For example:

  • You can run group competition prep programs.
  • You can sell personal training sessions to help people get ready to compete.
  • You can run specialty programs (gymnastics, weightlifting, etc.) or competition nutrition seminars.
  • You can sell Intramural Open-themed retail items.
  • You can charge a registration fee (I highly recommend this).
  • You can run “kids heats” to connect with young ones whose parents might want to sign them up for programs at the gym.
  • You can run post-competition goal reviews and upgrade prescriptions to help members make swift progress.


You can see how all that would add up to more revenue. But if you don’t have a plan, you’ll miss out on all of it.

I’ve got you covered: On Jan. 9, I’ll give you a complete guide to the Intramural Open. It’s plug and play. I’ll tell you exactly how to set up and run the competition, as well as how to generate revenue and put your clients on podiums. I’ll also tell you how to keep it low drag and reduce the stress of running a multi-week event.

The point here: Make a plan to improve retention and generate revenue in 2023.

My recommended plan—with a printable calendar—is available here: Gym Owners United.

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One more thing!

Did you know gym owners can earn $100,000 a year with no more than 150 clients? We wrote a guide showing you exactly how.