Can a fun competition dramatically improve retention in a gym?
Yes.
Here’s the proof:
At Activate in Ireland, if clients participate in the annual Intramural Open event, they are three times more likely to stick with the gym for another year.
Owner Brian Foley has been running the Intramural Open since 2017, and every year about 150 clients participate.
Because they register for one simple, feelgood event and smile constantly for about a month, these clients are 200 percent more likely to keep paying him for the next 12 months.
So why aren’t you running the Intramural Open at your gym?
If you want to run Two-Brain’s signature event at your gym in 2025, you can get Chris Cooper’s detailed guide here: intramuralopen.com.
The short summary:
The Intramural Open was created to give gym owners a chance to celebrate their clients in a multi-week “competition.” I’m using quotes here because this is not a cutthroat, blood-on-the-barbell test of fitness.
In the Intramural Open, participants join in-house teams and do workouts, but the focus is on participation, fun and celebration.
For example, Tim might score 3 points for his team because he posted the top workout score, but Tom might score 7 points for his team because he completed the workout and earned the weekly Spirit of the Open Award for cheering the loudest. Tammy might score 5 points by doing the workout, booking a Goal Review Session and wearing the best costume on “Super Hero Night.”
A wise gym owner celebrates all three clients—and everyone else—and boosts retention in the process.
Some gym owners choose to link this event to the CrossFit Games Open, but others run it independently. This year, Chris has programmed workouts to make it even easier to go your own way, market prep courses, run bring-a-friend events and produce PRs during the event.
A Massive Magnet for Clients
Why does the Intramural Open have such a dramatic effect on retention?
Here are the main reasons:
- No one quits in the leadup to a major event.
- No one quits in the middle of a competition.
- The emphasis on participation and fun takes people out of the grind of daily workouts.
- The atmosphere is incredible: You will never see more smiles in your gym than during the Intramural Open.
- The team format helps members create new bonds in the gym.
- Team captains and teammates provide peer accountability the gym owner can’t.
- People who bring friends to participate in a workout want their guests to join, and non-members who join a buddy for a workout experience the very best of the gym.
- People who experience personal wins in the competition are very likely to want more.
- People who struggle with something during the competition will be highly motivated to improve.
- Members who book Goal Review Sessions as a result of the open get precise plans to help them accomplish goals, so they make swifter progress.
- Owners have endless opportunities to celebrate clients—especially valuable members who will never be at the top of any fitness leaderboard.
With all that in mind, Brian’s retention stat makes perfect sense. The Intramural Open is simply a client magnet in a gym when an owner runs it properly.
And as a bonus, gym owners have tons of opportunities to make some money from the event itself. That’s in addition to all the cash generated by greatly increased length of engagement for each client who does burpees in a costume as a member of The Fitness Avengers or Team Heavy Mëtal.
If you’re struggling with retention—or if you aren’t but still want to improve it—the Intramural Open is your best option for the first quarter of 2025.
And it’s easy to set up and run if you get Coop’s new guide.
To boost retention and revenue and fill your gym with smiles, get your guide to the Intramural Open here.
