Planet Fitness turns $88.6M in national advertising into a million new members.

HAMPTON, NH — Few brands have made the case for sustained, high-volume advertising investment as clearly as Planet Fitness. The fitness franchisor spent $88.6 million on national marketing in 2024 through its National Advertising Fund (NAF), launched a refreshed brand platform titled “We’re All Strong on This Planet,” and closed the year with approximately 19.7 million members — a net gain of roughly one million members year-over-year, as reported in the company’s Q4 and full-year 2024 results.

For advertisers and agencies studying what category-leading marketing investment looks like in 2026, Planet Fitness offers a uniquely transparent case study: a clearly defined funding model, a measurable connection between spend and member growth, and a willingness to evolve the mix as performance dictates.

An advertising machine built into the franchise model

Planet Fitness’s media investment is not a discretionary line item — it is structural. Franchisees are contractually required, per the company’s most recent Franchise Disclosure Document, to contribute on top of their 7% royalty:

• 2% of monthly EFT dues to the National Advertising Fund (NAF) — not to exceed 3% of the EFT dues draft, per the 2025 FDD.
• The greater of $60,000 or 7% of total gross monthly membership fees to local advertising (LAF) each year.
• Up to 7% of monthly EFT for special marketing programs in any single month.
• Pre-sale and grand opening marketing ranging from $40,000 to $132,000 per new club.

That formula converts every membership dollar into a predictable, compounding advertising budget. At ~19.7 million members and steadily rising same-club sales (up 5.0% system-wide in 2024), the math behind the $88.6M national pool becomes self-funding — and it scales as the chain grows toward management’s long-stated 5,000-club U.S. ambition.

2025 — A refreshed brand platform meets the new-year window

Planet Fitness used its largest seasonal selling window to relaunch its brand. In December 2024, the company introduced “We’re All Strong on This Planet,” a campaign explicitly built to broaden appeal — from first-time joiners to experienced lifters — and to showcase newly added strength-training equipment, as Athletech News reported in its review of the year’s best fitness campaigns.

“As we continue to evolve as a brand, we are redefining our brand purpose and reminding consumers that Planet Fitness is the gym for everyone — no matter where they are on their fitness journey.”

Jamie Medeiros, Chief Brand Officer, Planet Fitness, via Campaign US

The campaign timing was deliberate. Planet Fitness pulled its new-year creative forward, recognizing that the resolution-season selling window has both compressed and intensified across linear TV, connected TV, social and digital audio. The investment showed up directly in the company’s financials: Q4 2024 NAF expense rose to $19.4 million from $17.6 million in the prior-year quarter as the brand leaned into the relaunch.

Results — member growth, price power, Black Card mix

The combined effect of the 2024 brand investment and pricing strategy was measurable.

1. ~1 million net new members in 2024

Planet Fitness ended 2024 with approximately 19.7 million members, up from 18.7 million at the end of 2023 — a net gain of roughly one million members. The company opened 150 new clubs in the year, finishing with 2,722 locations system-wide.

2. ~1.1 million net new members in 2025

In its Q4 and full-year 2025 results, Planet Fitness reported approximately 1.1 million net new members in 2025 — even after raising its Classic Card price by 50% for new members for the first time in over 25 years. CEO Colleen Keating attributed the result to “the incredible demand for our brand.”

3. Black Card penetration around 64%

On the Q4 2024 call, management reported Black Card penetration of approximately 64%, up roughly 200 basis points year-over-year — demonstrating that advertising and brand positioning are not only driving acquisition but also pulling joiners up the tier ladder.

2026 — shifting more dollars to national media

In January 2026, Planet Fitness announced an agreement with its franchisees to shift a portion of LAF contributions into the National Advertising Fund for 2026 in order to “optimize and accelerate new marketing opportunities and drive future member growth,” per its year-end 2025 metrics release. The move concentrates more media buying power in NAF and reflects the company’s belief that national scale — particularly across CTV and digital video — produces a stronger ROI than fragmented local buys for a category leader of its size.

“Planet Fitness has built one of the most disciplined performance-advertising engines in retail. A near-$90M national fund, a clearly defined franchisee contribution model, and a willingness to shift dollars toward national media as CTV scales — that is exactly the playbook advertisers and agencies should be studying. It is also the kind of always-on, full-funnel inventory environment that the OTTA Network and live sports streaming were built to serve.”

Chris Wagner, Founder and Managing Partner, OTT Advisors

The youth marketing halo — High School Summer Pass

Alongside its paid media work, Planet Fitness continues to scale one of the most ambitious youth-acquisition programs in retail. The High School Summer Pass program offers free summer access to U.S. teens ages 14–19 and has now waived more than $460 million in membership dues to date. The 2025 program signed up a record number of teen participants, and the 2026 edition features Olympic legend Allyson Felix and WNBA player Flau’jae Johnson as program ambassadors.

For advertisers thinking about lifetime value, the program is a textbook example of brand investment as long-horizon performance: the cost of a free summer becomes a future Classic or Black Card subscription that generates dues for years — and additional NAF dollars for future media.

Why it matters for advertisers and agencies

Planet Fitness’s playbook reflects the macro shift OTT Advisors sees across the brand-direct and agency landscape: structural commitment to national media, a measurable line from advertising dollars to acquisition outcomes, and a growing emphasis on connected-TV environments that pair scale with addressability. For OTTA’s publisher partners and advertiser clients, brands that invest like Planet Fitness — consistently, at the top of the funnel, with performance discipline — are the partners that move the live-sports streaming category forward.

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