Joakim Noah to open five gym franchises

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah is getting into the gym business.

The 29-year-old reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year has struck a deal through his marketing agency with New York-based chain Crunch Fitness to open five Crunch gym locations in the Chicago area over the next few years.

Sparked by to a new partnership between Crunch and BDA Sports Management, which represents Noah, the near-seven-footer will headline the fitness chain's expansion into Illinois later this year with plans to break ground on his first location this fall.

Crunch, which is co-owned by Lafayette, Calif.-based New Evolution Ventures and New York private equity firm Angelo Gordon has about 90 active gym locations worldwide, including 82 franchise locations in 12 states, Puerto Rico and Australia. The 25-year-old company's previous locations in Chicago shuttered when it filed for bankruptcy in May 2009, but it was subsequently purchased be its current owners and began its franchising program.

The chain and BDA last month announced a partnership that will include new franchises owned by several of BDA's NBA clients and operated by groups that currently run other Crunch franchises. Aside from Noah, Crunch initial franchises will be opening under the ownership of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, the Minnesota Timberwolves' Chase Budinger and the Sacramento Kings' Darren Collison.

The financial investments of all the players are undisclosed, but they'll operate similar to other franchisees—securing things like real estate, permits and commercial contractors—but Crunch will connect them with location operators. Noah's franchises will be run by an unspecified group that operates Crunch franchises in Los Angeles.

"The idea is to help diversify these guys for after they finish their careers," said Crunch CEO Ben Midgley. "They could have 5 to 10 to 15 operating units and could be in good position."

Midgley said that Noah, who will have full ownership of the gym locations within the Crunch umbrella, will be a "phenomenal" face of the brand's return to Chicago and Illinois, where it is eying other new franchises as well.

"He's very big in Chicago, he's very big nationally, and we're appreciative and honored to be partnered with him," he said.

"VERY HANDS-ON"

Specific locations of the gym franchises are still to be determined, but one is said to be planned on the near West Side not far from the United Center and the Major Adams Community Center where the Bulls star's "Noah's Arc Foundation" holds weekly art and sports programs.

BDA spokeswoman Alyson Furch said Noah "will be very hands-on" with his new health clubs. "He prides himself on his fitness and on improving his community," she said.

Noah's production has dropped off this season with the arrival of Bulls All-Star center Pau Gasol and in the wake of having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee last May and struggling with a recent ankle injury.

But he has dramatically raised his profile in the league over the past two years and is coming off the best season of his career in 2013-14, when he made his second All-Star game, set career highs for points and rebounds and finished fourth in voting for the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award.

Noah, described as a "reluctant and selective endorser" when he signed with BDA last year, has endorsement deals with Adidas, Vita Coco Coconut Water and fitness supplement company BSN.

BUSINESS EXPERIENCE

Professional athletes often lend their names and likenesses to specialty gyms or training facilities—think boxers or baseball players—but owning health clubs while in the heart of one's career is not as common, nor is it highly lucrative, said Doug Shabelman president of Evanston-based Burns Entertainment, which brokers celebrity endorsement deals.

But "it's a good business opportunity for these guys to not only lend their name, but to see how a day-to-day operation works without having to get their hands too dirty," he said. "It might be a great way to segue into the next aspect of his career and find out how much his name will mean in that area come 10 to 15 years from now."

It will also test whether associating his name with a brand in a crowded gym marketplace—where many people become members simply based on price and convenience—will make a difference.

"It will elevate this place in terms of people recognizing the name," said Shabelman. "But I don't see them wanting to go just because (he) works out there."

BDA clients and retired NBA stars Steve Nash and Yao Ming have also been involved in franchising for fitness chains. Steve Nash Fitness World and Sports Clubs has 18 locations around Vancouver, British Columbia.

Noah is currently in the fourth year of a 5-year, $60 million deal that makes him the 2nd-highest paid Bulls player (Derrick Rose) and 8th-highest paid active Chicago athlete by average annual salary, according to athlete salary database Spotrac.com.