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Planet Fitness Said No to New Franchisees for a Decade. Here’s How This Guy Got a Yes.

2026-09-09 | original

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Why This Matters

Planet Fitness has spent over a decade closed to new outside franchisees, forcing would-be operators to buy existing gyms — as Flynn Group did in 2023. The brand's decision to sign a brand-new development deal with hotel developer Ian McClure signals a shift in how one of fitness's biggest franchised systems plans to grow, and it suggests real-estate and hospitality operators are viewed as viable gym builders.

Key Takeaways

Planet Fitness signed its first new outside franchise development deal in more than 10 years, ending a de facto closed system.
Ian McClure's Gulf Coast Hotel Management won three area development deals for over a dozen gyms on Florida's west coast, leaning on extended-stay hotel development experience.
Entry costs are steep — $1.3M to $5.4M per location depending on equipment financing — for a brand built on $10-a-month memberships.

Worth a Look

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For more than ten years, the only way into the Planet Fitness system was to buy an existing franchisee’s gym, the way mega-operator Flynn Group did in 2023. That changed this year.

Ian McClure, who builds hotels for a living, just did something no outside franchisee has done in over a decade. He signed a brand-new development deal with Planet Fitness instead of buying out an existing operator’s gyms, Franchise Times reports. His company, Gulf Coast Hotel Management, has 40-plus extended-stay properties across 14 states and 30 more Wyndham locations under construction in Texas, Florida and Colorado. He landed three area development deals to open more than a dozen Planet Fitness gyms on Florida’s west coast.

The buy-in isn’t cheap. A single location runs $1.3 million to $5.4 million depending on equipment financing — real money for a franchise built on $10-a-month memberships. McClure is betting hospitality know-how translates. “Planet Fitness stood out as the ideal partner,” he said, citing its “industry leadership” and “brand appeal.”

Explore topics: planet fitness ian mcclure gulf coast hotel management franchising flynn group