Esporta Fitness was launched in January 2020 as a budget-tier experiment by Fitness International LLC, the same company that owns LA Fitness, but it was shut down by April 2025, so it no longer exists.
Every club that used to be “Esporta Fitness” is now either an LA Fitness, permanently closed, or in one small batch of eight locations, which have been sold to Genesis Health Clubs.
Today, I’ll share what it was, why it failed, and what that means if you were a member or if your local club went through the rebrand.
What Esporta Fitness Was
Esporta was Fitness International’s attempt to compete at the lower end of the gym market without touching the LA Fitness brand or its pricing, such as Crunch Fitness, which is way cheaper than LA Fitness.
So, in January 2020, the company converted 17 LA Fitness locations in the greater Phoenix area to Esporta, plus they also changed the signage and interior design.
And they marketed Esporta’s price point while keeping the same equipment and staff.
Fitness International’s reason for starting Esporta was that their competitor, like Planet Fitness, was growing fast at $10 to $15 per month and pulling members away from full-service gyms.
So, rather than reducing LA Fitness rates and risking devaluing the main brand, Fitness International wanted a separate vehicle to compete in that price segment, and Esporta was that vehicle.
By 2023, they had over 100 clubs under the Esporta name across multiple states, and it was the peak of Esporta Fitness.
Why Esporta Fitness Failed?
These are 3 major problems that compounded over five years, and ultimately they had to close their gyms or convert them.
Member Confusion
Too many members were confused; even existing members and front desk staff couldn’t explain what made Esporta different from LA Fitness in a way that people understood easily.
Both had similar equipment, classes, and pools at many locations and often existed in the same metro area.
If someone asked, “Why is this Esporta and not LA Fitness?” the answer was “marketing reasons” and nothing more concrete.
Access and Membership Complications
People with LA Fitness Multi-Club membership could generally use Esporta locations.
Esporta members often couldn’t use LA Fitness clubs, and that created constant friction at the front desk when members showed up expecting access they didn’t have, or when staff had to explain why an LA Fitness card worked at Esporta but not the other way around.
Over thousands of clubs and millions of members, so too much friction added up.
Two Brands, Double the Overhead
Running Esporta as a separate brand meant two websites, two apps, two customer service systems, two marketing budgets, and two sets of membership agreements.
So, all that doubled the cost of maintenance, but dual infrastructure wasn’t justified by the revenue Esporta generated at its lower price points.
When Fitness International began cutting costs in late 2023, Esporta pools were the first thing to go at several locations.
Rochester, NY, had four clubs lose their pools in November 2023, and since then, those pools never came back, even after the clubs rebranded to LA Fitness.
The Full Timeline of Esporta Fitness
| Year | What Happened |
|---|---|
| January 2020 | Fitness International launches Esporta, converting 17 LA Fitness clubs in Phoenix |
| 2020 to 2023 | Esporta expands to over 100 locations across multiple states |
| November 2023 | Cost-cutting begins; some Esporta pools closed permanently (Rochester, NY, most cited) |
| 2024 | Wind-down begins; underperforming clubs close, and others start reverting to LA Fitness |
| July 2024 | Fitness International acquires XSport Fitness, rebranding 35 clubs under existing brands |
| February 27, 2025 | Eight Esporta locations in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Louisiana sold to Genesis Health Clubs |
| April 1, 2025 | The final three Esporta clubs in California, Illinois, and Massachusetts rebrand to LA Fitness. Esportafitness.com redirects to lafitness.com |
What Happened to Former Esporta Members
Memberships were transferred automatically, which means anyone with an active Esporta account on the day their club rebranded had their account converted to the similar LA Fitness membership tier.
Members didn’t have to do anything from their side.
Just log into your account at lafitness.com or through the LA Fitness app to verify the current status and membership tier.
Customer service and the former Esporta phone lines all redirect to LA Fitness support now; the old Esporta contact paths are gone.
What Former Esporta Clubs Look Like Now
It depends on the location and how much renovation investment Fitness International put into it after the rebrand.
Some clubs look better than before; others still carry the marks of the cost-cutting period.
Clubs that received renovation investment during or after the rebrand process now meet or exceed the standard LA Fitness build-out.
Others, especially ones where amenities were cut during the 2023 to 2024 cost-reduction period, still feel little different from a purpose-built LA Fitness.
Some former Esporta clubs closed their pools in late 2023 to cut operating costs, and those pools did not reopen when the club rebranded, like in Rochester, NY.
If you want to know about a particular Esporta club, then you can find more information from the club’s amenity list on the LA Fitness club finder and recent Google reviews from after April 2025.
They’ll show you the current conditions of that club.
Canceling a Former Esporta Membership
If you’re still being billed for what used to be an Esporta membership and want to cancel, the process is now the standard LA Fitness cancellation process.
I won’t explain it here; you can check my Cancel LA Fitness Membership blog. I’ve shared the whole process of cancelling membership.
What Replaced Esporta
Fitness International didn’t launch another budget brand after Esporta wound down, and their current brand structure under the parent company is:
- LA Fitness as the mainstream full-service gym brand across the US and Canada.
- City Sports Club as a regional value brand, which is operating in select markets, primarily in California.
- Club Studio as the premium boutique that is offered, launched through an Xponential Fitness partnership with reformer Pilates, barre, and other studio-format classes at select LA Fitness and Esporta locations.
Members who joined Esporta specifically for the lower price point now have a few options; they can stay at the rebranded LA Fitness club at current LA Fitness pricing.
They can check whether City Sports Club operates nearby through the Fitness International website, or they can consider a different budget gym chain.
In my LA Fitness vs Planet Fitness and LA Fitness vs Crunch Fitness guide, I did talk about how those alternatives compare on price and amenities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Esporta Fitness the same as LA Fitness?
They were owned by the same parent company, Fitness International LLC, and operated with similar equipment and staffing.
Esporta was a separate brand from January 2020 to April 2025, but as of April 1, 2025, every former Esporta location is now either an LA Fitness, permanently closed, or transferred to Genesis Health Clubs.
What happened to Esporta Fitness?
Esporta Fitness is no longer in operation; all of its locations have been converted into LA Fitness, closed, or transferred to Genesis Health Clubs.
The brand failed because members couldn’t differentiate it from LA Fitness, the membership access rules between the two brands created constant confusion, and running two separate brands was costlier for Fitness International LLC than earning.
Is my Esporta membership still valid?
Yes, active memberships converted automatically to LA Fitness when each club rebranded.
The tier stayed the same, and no paperwork was required. You can access your account at lafitness.com or through the LA Fitness app to see the current status.
Can I still use the Esporta app?
No, the Esporta app no longer functions as a standalone gym app; the LA Fitness app replaced it for former Esporta members.
You can download the LA Fitness app and log in with your existing account credentials or reset your password through lafitness.com if you haven’t logged in since the rebrand.
Why are some former Esporta clubs still missing pools?
Pools at certain Esporta clubs were shut down in late 2023 as a cost-cutting measure before the wind-down was announced.
Those closures happened before the rebrand, and the pool equipment was decommissioned rather than just paused.
You can check the amenity list on the LA Fitness club finder for the current status at your club.
What is City Sports Club, and is it related to Esporta?
City Sports Club is a separate Fitness International brand that operates in select California locations at lower price points than standard LA Fitness.
It predates Esporta and was not part of the Esporta wind-down.
If you’re looking for a budget option within the Fitness International family, City Sports Club is the current offering in markets where it operates.
I’m Abraham, a researcher and writer. I’ve been going to the gym since 2019, and I started GymMembershipPricing after struggling to find reliable information about gym memberships, pricing, fees, amenities, cancellation policies, hidden charges, and more. I research and verify this information to help others find a suitable gym, understand what to expect, avoid unexpected costs, and make informed decisions before joining.
