Oz gym right fit for the US

THE co-founder of Australian gym chain F45 says relationships with US sports franchises like the Brooklyn Nets basketball team and Miami Dolphins football team has helped it sign up its 400th US franchise.

Rob Deutsch said F45, a gym chain he helped found seven years ago, has sold 1300 franchises across 36 countries in just three years.

And he said the tie-ups with major sporting bodies such as basketball teams the Philadelphia 76ers and the Dallas Mavericks were just a part of the US growth strategy. “We haven’t scratched the surface,” Mr Deutsch told Business Daily. The former Sydney equities trader who worked for a stint in London, cofounded F45 with a mate and franchise expert in 2012.

The move to snare tie-ups with US sports companies was a refinement of the Australian model which includes celebrity endorsements from sportspeople such as Sydney Swans AFL player Jarrad McVeigh, former Hawk Josh Gibson, former Australian cricketer Brett Lee, rugby union player Adam Ashley Cooper and former Melbourne Storm player Nate Myles.

Mr Deutsch said while the chain had about 670 franchises in Australia and New Zealand, the goal for the US is 10,000 franchises.

Mr Deutsch said the F45 model was flexible enough to adapt classes to take up the latest trends.

And despite approaches from interested private equity investors, Mr Deutsch said he was hesitant to take parties aboard unless they were “right”.

Mr Deutsch lives in Los Angeles but has been travelling across the US examining franchises.

He said he knew progress was being made when the brand succeeded in New York’s up-market Tribeca neighbourhood.