Khali enters the fitness ring
Follows Dhoni & Kohli in this biz; will take franchisee route to set up 50 gyms in a year
After Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli, it is the turn of Dalip Singh Rana, better known by his ring name The Great Khali, to flex his muscles at the gym. The professional wrestler is planning to set up 50 gyms in India in a year and then look abroad. The USP: It will combine gym with fitness and wrestling.
‘’The gyms will have a theme and would look like a wrestling ring. As members enter the gym, Khali will greet them with an automated voice message. There will be a Khali gallery, which will display and sell merchandise like clothes and boots,’’ says Ankur Makan, Khali’s man handling the project.
To be christened as the The Great Khali Gym & Fitness Club, the large format gyms spread across 4,500-5,000 sq ft will come with unique features like a lounge, kids area, the Khali gallery, marathon track and usual ones like two spas, two Jacuzzis, sweat room, which can be used by 40-45 people at any given time.
Users will have to shell out ~27,000-28,000 a year, which is similar to what premium gyms charge in Indian metros. Khali is looking for franchisees and will unveil his concept at the Franchise India Expo in mid-October in New Delhi. This show is attended by franchiseeinvestors & firms wanting to franchise.
Khali’s franchisees will have to invest ~3.5 crore in gym infrastructure, including approximately ~35 lakh sign-up fees to be paid to Khali. A franchisee will also incur variable costs of ~5060 lakh a year, but can hope to make revenues of ~3.5 crore a year. ‘’Assuming a gym can get 700 members, it can make ~2 crore per annum purely from gym revenues. Plus, it could hope to make ~1.5 crore in revenues from the lounge, the Khali gallery, self-defence training for kids, zumba, aerobics, power yoga,’’ says Makan.
The lounge will sell food supplements like protein bars that sell for ~2,000/kg while the gallery will sell merchandise for wrestling. These are likely to be the two key non-gym revenues, says Makan. Every gym will be personally inaugurated by Khali. ‘’He doesn’t want to compromise on the service parameters like hygiene, personal trainers, and wants to ensure that it doesn’t spoil his name,’’ says Makan. Khali could not be reached for his comment.
The first gym will come up in Jaipur by January, and the second one in Delhi. Gyms in Tier-II or Tier-III cities will be smaller— these will have fewer machines, and one spa and one Jacuzzi. Khali is doing this project under Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE), his company which has set up a wrestling academy in Jalandhar in Punjab that has over 350 students. After India, Khali wants to open gyms in markets like the US, Canada and Dubai, where he enjoys good following.
For gyms, CWE is busy evolving a business plan, design and layouts, and a franchising model with help from Francorp, the consulting arm of Franchise India. Major players in the gym business include Gold Gym, Talwalkars, Virat Kohliowned Chissel, and Neo. M S Dhoni promoted Sportsfit has around 10 gyms and expanding aggressively while Chissel has 20 units.
WE has also been organising events or fights called — The Great Khali Returns — to promote freestyle wrestling and create a forum like WWF (World Wrestling Entertainment) in India.
‘’He was the first Indian wrestler at WWF, but doesn’t want to be the last. Like the Indian Premier League, this forum will expose our wrestlers to international players and improve their skills,’’ Makan says
The next event is in Gurgaon on Oct 8, which will see 10 males and 14 female wrestlers and is liekly to be attended by 40,000 people; tickets are priced between ~500 - ~10,000.