Acquisition Alert: EōS Fitness Buys Texans Fit as NFL Team Exits Gym Space
As part of its plan to expand in Texas, EōS Fitness has purchased and will be rebranding a pair of gym locations opened by the Houston Texans.
EōS Fitness has boosted its footprint with the acquisition of Texans Fit, a Houston-based gym chain founded by the Houston Texans and fitness company M6 Football, owned by Mark Mastrov, co-founder and former CEO of 24 Hour Fitness.
EōS, a national fitness brand headquartered in Dallas, Texas, now has 75 open gyms as a result of the deal in the Lone Star State.
The purchase price was not disclosed and the Texans Fit website has already been rebranded to EōS Fitness.
Rich Drengberg, EōS Fitness CEO, says the acquisition is part of EōS’ expansion plans in new and existing markets throughout 2023. Drengberg confirmed that EōS Fitness is expected to launch over 15 additional locations this year, with a Houston-area gym slated to open its doors later this month in Spring, Texas.
“It has been a pleasure to work with fitness industry veteran Mark Mastrov on the acquisition of these five Texans Fit locations,” Drengberg said of the deal. “This move helped solidify our aggressive momentum and accelerated the growth of EōS Fitness in the Greater Houston area and in Texas overall.”
Texans Fit’s gym-level employees were given the opportunity to remain employed through EōS Fitness following the deal. Each club will be rebranded to EōS Fitness, and the fitness company is currently assessing potential upgrades and renovations, according to Silicon Valley Journals.
Looking ahead, EōS Fitness plans to expand its footprint in new states, with 100+ gyms anticipated to open through 2028. Texas will be a concentrated focus, with the acquisition of Texans Fit supporting EōS’ plan to open over 50 new gyms in the Houston area and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex over the next five years.
While Texans Fit has been acquired, ten other NFL fitness centers remain
Although Texans Fit has been absorbed by EōS Fitness, there are a handful of other NFL teams across ten locations that remain after partnering with Mastrov — Chicago Bears (Bears Fit) Cleveland Browns (Browns Fit), Kansas City Chiefs (Chiefs Fit), Dallas Cowboys (Cowboys Fit) and San Francisco 49ers (49ers Fit).
The fitness centers include standard workout equipment as well as sports turf, recovery lounges and group fitness classes, all with NFL branding and a professional training ethos. Some locations, such as Cowboys Fit in Texas, have a heated rooftop pool.
Brands have been able to generate additional revenue by connecting NFL teams to fitness gyms. NFL-themed fitness centers also have on-site pro shops that sell exclusive team merchandise for club members.
“If you think about NFL revenue streams, we have our broadcast, we have our ticket sales, we have our partnership revenue. Those are the tried and true revenue sources that all sports teams have focused on during the past 20 or 30 years,” Moon Javaid, chief strategy officer of the 49ers, told Front Office Sports in 2020 of the decision to venture into the fitness space. “But what happens when you maximize all of those, so you are Top 3 in every category across the board? Do you spend all of your efforts trying to squeeze out another million? Or do you focus outside of the traditional revenue area to see if the brand extends past that?”
Opening NFL-branded fitness facilities has also given new life to vacant retail spaces and closed gyms. The first Chiefs Fit location, which opened in 2021, took over the space of a former Michaels craft store in an Overland Park, Kansas, shopping center.
