It’s almost competition season, and I’ve got an updated guide to Two-Brain’s signature event: the Intramural Open.
Our mission with this annual event is threefold:
- Give your clients a party.
- Show them they’re winning.
- Ensure they stay excited to train with you.
Our mission is not to find the fittest on Earth, the fittest in your city or the fittest in your gym.
We want to make your clients smile and help you put them on podiums so they stick with your gym and keep improving their lives through fitness.
And we want you to add some revenue related to competition, too.
Like any Two-Brain tactic, the Intramural Open has been tested many, many times. It is a surefire winner.
Here’s proof from one of our mentors, Brian Foley, who has used the Intramural Open plan since 2017 at Activate in Ireland:
- Brian sells gymnastics and weightlifting programs that run for six or eight weeks before the competition. Details: 10-12 people at about $200 a head, for a total of $2,000-$2,400 per program.
- Brian’s client success manager dug into his metrics and discovered that every client who participates in the Intramural Open at his gym is three times more likely to stay for another 12 months of membership.
The first part—revenue generated directly by the Intramural Open plan—is sweet.
But the second part is even better.
Think about it: The people who join a team and smile for the Intramural Open are far more likely to stay for the next 12 months.
Let’s say Brian’s gym has average revenue per member of $168, which is the mean for big-group gyms in our 2024 “State of the Industry” report. That would mean every client who does the Intramural Open is three times more likely to contribute another $2,016 to his business.
Brian has more than 150 members who join the party, so think what this one event does for his retention—to say nothing of all the other tactics he uses to hold onto clients.
And think about how industry-leading retention reduces marketing and intake costs. It’s far cheaper to serve existing clients than work to acquire and onboard new ones.
On the other hand, I and other gym owners approached competition all wrong back in the day.
We focused on our best athletes, accidentally made everyone else feel “less” and burned ourselves out filming hours of workouts for top competitors.
One gym owner I know lost about 30 members after the CrossFit Games Open even though his gym posted its best competition results of all time that year. His members were far more likely to leave because of the way he framed competition, and his mistake cost him tens of thousands of dollars.
So I’ll say it again:
This February-March, your mission as a gym owner is to put your members on podiums and celebrate them so they keep working toward their health and fitness goals.
Your Own Competition?
In 2025, I did something I’ve never done: I programmed workouts for the Intramural Open in case that helps you provide a better experience for your clients. I also want to make sure gyms that aren’t CrossFit affiliates can run an intramural event with ease.
You can still link the Intramural Open to the CrossFit Games Open if you like. Our sample timeline runs in lockstep with the Games.
But if you want to go your own way, you can use my workouts—or create your own!
I selected the four workouts in the Intramural Open guide for these reasons:
- They require limited space and equipment.
- They are known well in advance so you can write lead-up workouts, plan your heats, manage your facility and organize your judges.
- They allow people at any level to participate.
- They provide many opportunities for wins.
- One of the workouts is perfect as a bring-a-friend marketing tactic.
- They allow you to market prep courses before the competition and skill sessions/personal training afterward.
In our annual plan for gym owners, we recommend you run the Intramural Open in late February or early March. It’s a great way to boost your revenue heading into spring, and it’s a key part of a gym’s retention plan.
People who are training for something don’t quit, and when they’ve finished the event, they already have something to look forward to next year.
I strongly recommend you get this event on your calendar, and I’ll offer my No. 1 tip for success:
The Intramural Open should feel like your gym’s birthday party—unbridled fun, full effort, maximum celebration. A successful Intramural Open will give your clients a story to tell for the rest of their lives.
If you follow the instructions in my 2025 “Intramural Open Guide,” you’ll flood your gym with smiles and good feelings without straining your staff.
And you’ll improve your bottom line as you do it.
To get my new guide, head to Intramuralopen.com.
