LA Fitness and Esporta Fitness were owned by the same parent company, Fitness International LLC.
Esporta was a rebrand experiment that started in 2020 and ended for good on April 1, 2025, when the last three Esporta clubs switched back to LA Fitness branding.
If you search for “LA Fitness Esporta Fitness” in 2026, every club that used to say Esporta on the sign now says LA Fitness.
Are LA Fitness and Esporta the same company?
Yes, both were operated by Fitness International LLC, the same parent company that also runs City Sports Club and Club Studio.
Esporta Fitness was a brand experiment inside Fitness International, using the same corporate infrastructure, mostly the same equipment vendors, and often the same regional managers as LA Fitness.
If you saw an Esporta club open where an LA Fitness used to be was watching Fitness International test a different market positioning.
The company was trying to compete more directly with Planet Fitness, Crunch Fitness, and EOS Fitness at a lower price point, while keeping LA Fitness as the mainstream tier.
The timeline of what happened
The Esporta Fitness brand had a five-year lifespan from launch to shutdown. Here’s what happend:
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Fitness International launches Esporta Fitness. First 17 clubs converted from LA Fitness in Arizona |
| 2021 to 2023 | Esporta expands rapidly, peak footprint reaches around 100+ locations across multiple states |
| November 2023 | Cost-cutting begins. Some Esporta clubs shut down their pools (Rochester NY was a widely reported case) |
| 2024 | Fitness International announces the wind-down. Underperforming Esporta clubs close and others begin converting back to LA Fitness |
| July 2024 | Fitness International acquires XSport Fitness and rebrands those 35 clubs under existing Fitness International brands |
| Early 2025 | Almost all Esporta clubs have rebranded back to LA Fitness, only three remain |
| April 1, 2025 | The final three Esporta clubs in California, Illinois, and Massachusetts officially rebrand to LA Fitness. Esporta website starts redirecting to lafitness.com. |
Why LA Fitness created Esporta in the first place
Fitness International launched Esporta to compete with the budget end of the gym market.
In 2020, Planet Fitness was expanding aggressively at $10 to $15 per month, and other high-volume low-cost gyms were pulling members away from full-service brands like LA Fitness.
Rather than cut LA Fitness pricing (which would have devalued the main brand), Fitness International converted certain lower-performing LA Fitness clubs into Esporta and priced them lower.
That idea made business sense on paper:
- Test cheaper memberships in select markets.
- Keep LA Fitness at its full price point.
- Capture members who would otherwise go to Planet Fitness or Crunch.
- Have a two-tier strategy without cannibalizing the flagship brand.
Why the Esporta experiment failed
Three specific problems killed the brand, and they compounded over five years:
- Consumer confusion: Members couldn’t easily tell what the difference between LA Fitness and Esporta was supposed to be. Both had similar equipment, amenities, classes, and often existed in the same metro area.
- Membership complications: LA Fitness members could sometimes use Esporta clubs and sometimes couldn’t, depending on their tier. Esporta members had their own separate rules. Front desk staff at both brands regularly had to explain access rights to confused members, which created friction when someone wanted to work out.
- Operational overhead: Running two brands with two websites, two apps, two customer service tracks, and two marketing budgets cost more than it earned. Combined with cost-cutting measures like closing Esporta pools in late 2023, the value proposition eroded even for members who liked the brand.
By 2024, Fitness International decided consolidation, Esporta wound down and Club Studio (the premium boutique brand launched through a partnership with Xponential Fitness) became the second-tier brand instead.
Things former Esporta Members Should Know
Members whose local club used to be Esporta and is now LA Fitness don’t have to do much, here’s what changed and what didn’t:
- Membership transferred automatically: Anyone with an active Esporta membership on the date their club rebranded had their account converted to an LA Fitness membership at the equivalent tier. Single-club members stayed single-club, multi-club members stayed multi-club.
- Same building, equipment, fewer amenities: The rebranded clubs kept most of their equipment and staffing. Some Esporta pools that were shut down during the 2023 to 2024 cost-cutting period and never came back, even after the sign changed to LA Fitness. Rochester NY is the most-cited example, where four former Esporta clubs went back to LA Fitness branding but the pools that closed in November 2023 stayed closed.
- Login and account access moved to lafitness.com: The old esportafitness.com now redirects to the LA Fitness main site.
- Customer service consolidated: Former Esporta phone numbers and email addresses now route to the LA Fitness support team.
What About Specific Former Esporta Locations
LA Fitness Esporta Palm Bay (Florida) used to operate as Esporta Fitness and is now branded as LA Fitness, with the same location, equipment, and staff.
The Palm Bay area did see some amenity changes during the wind-down, so you have to confirm the club’s current amenity list on lafitness.com.
LA Fitness Esporta Seminole (Florida) followed the exact same pattern: formerly Esporta, now LA Fitness, same address, updated signage.
For any other former Esporta club, the LA Fitness club finder at lafitness.com is the authoritative source, you just have to Enter the zip code, look for the club that was listed as Esporta, and check its current amenity list and hours on the club page.
Can LA Fitness members use Esporta? Does the LA Fitness Pass work at Esporta?
They don’t apply, there are no Esporta clubs left.
LA Fitness members access what used to be Esporta by walking into what is now an LA Fitness club, using their normal membership.
But historically: LA Fitness Multi-Club members generally had access to Esporta locations, and some LA Fitness Signature memberships also worked at Esporta.
Esporta-only memberships did not usually work at LA Fitness clubs.
Esporta vs LA Fitness: Is There Any Difference Now?
All former Esporta clubs are LA Fitness clubs with LA Fitness pricing, LA Fitness memberships, LA Fitness classes, and LA Fitness customer service.
At the individual club level, there can still be small differences based on how much investment the former Esporta location has received since the rebrand.
Some former Esporta clubs feel a little older or have fewer amenities than a purpose-built LA Fitness.
Others got renovation upgrades as part of the rebrand and now match or exceed the LA Fitness standard.
But If you want to know more, then walk into the specific club and see for yourself, or read the current Google reviews from after April 2025 to check whether members are noticing any residual Esporta-era issues.
LA Fitness Esporta Cancel Membership
For anyone trying to cancel what used to be an Esporta membership, the process is now the LA Fitness cancellation process, here are three steps:
- Fill out the LA Fitness membership cancellation form (available on lafitness.com or at the club front desk)
- Submit it in person at your home club or send it by certified mail to the LA Fitness address on the form
- Give 30 days notice before the next billing cycle to avoid another month’s charge
Cancellation by phone or email is not accepted, it was true under Esporta and is still true under LA Fitness.
Members on annual contracts may need to pay out the remaining term unless they have a valid cancellation reason (medical, relocation more than 25 miles from any club, or others listed in the contract).
What Replaced Esporta as the Budget Brand?
Fitness International’s current brand structure is:
- LA Fitness as the mainstream full-service brand
- City Sports Club as a regional value brand in select markets
- Club Studio as the premium boutique brand launched through the Xponential Fitness partnership
The company chose not to replace Esporta with another budget line.
Members who joined Esporta for the lower price point have a few options: stay at their now-LA Fitness club at LA Fitness pricing, look at City Sports Club if it operates in their metro, or consider a different budget chain like Planet Fitness or Crunch Fitness.
Frequently asked questions
Are LA Fitness and Esporta the same thing?
They were owned by the same parent company, Fitness International LLC. Esporta was a separate brand from 2020 to April 2025 but has been merged back into LA Fitness.
Every former Esporta location is now an LA Fitness club.
Why is Esporta LA Fitness again?
The Esporta experiment ran into three problems: members couldn’t tell the two brands apart, membership rules between them were confusing, and running two brands cost more than it earned.
Fitness International shut down Esporta and consolidated everything under LA Fitness.
Why are they closing LA Fitness clubs?
Some LA Fitness clubs have closed since 2020, but most of what people notice as “LA Fitness closures” are the former Esporta clubs that shut down during the wind-down.
LA Fitness itself has grown to around 500 US locations plus more in Canada, total around 700.
Individual club closures still happen when leases expire or a location underperforms, but there’s no widespread closure program.
Did LA Fitness buy Esporta?
No, LA Fitness didn’t buy Esporta, but the Fitness International LLC (which owns LA Fitness) created Esporta by rebranding some existing LA Fitness clubs in 2020.
Is my Esporta membership still valid?
Yes, Active Esporta memberships were automatically converted to LA Fitness memberships when each club rebranded.
The tier stayed the same, and no action is needed from the member side.
Log in at lafitness.com or through the LA Fitness app to view the current account.
What happened to the Esporta customer service line?
It got merged into LA Fitness customer service, the old Esporta phone numbers and email addresses redirect to the LA Fitness support team.
The main LA Fitness customer service page is at lafitness.com under “Contact Us.”
Are the hours at former Esporta clubs the same as before?
Mostly yes, though hours are set at the club level and can change with rebranding.
The LA Fitness app shows current hours for every club, including special hours during holidays.
That’s the most reliable source for former Esporta locations that may have adjusted hours after the switch.
Abraham is a fitness and consumer finance writer with a passion for helping people make smarter decisions before signing gym contracts. After spending years researching gym membership costs, hidden fees and cancellation policies across major gym chains, he created GymMembershipPricing to give people the honest information they need before signing up. Every guide on this site is independently researched and verified.
