We have recently made changes to our Live Online Offer and want to provide our members with additional information to their frequently asked questions.
Why did Urban Sports Club make changes to the Live Online offer?
Back in 2020, together with our partners, we built our Live Online Classes almost overnight in response to the Covid-related studio closures and introducing a brand-new way for members to do sports. For large stretches of the pandemic, Live Online Classes were the only tool to keep members active & healthy, and therefore our payout structure reflected this extraordinary situation.
Unfortunately, over time we saw that this digital business model was not sustainable as the demand for onsite classes recovered and now sits above pre-pandemic levels. As well as that, current events such as the energy crisis and inflation have also impacted us. In order for us to continue to offer both onsite and Live Online Classes simultaneously, we had to make adjustments to our members' visit limits (reduction to 8 live classes per month) as well as to our partner cooperation agreements related to the Live Online offer, which included reducing the partner payout to a fixed amount for all partners regardless of their sports category or studio size.
Making these changes to the Live Online offer was not a decision we took lightly and unfortunately in the current circumstances we did not see any other option besides completely stopping the online course offer, which is of course a step we did not want to take.
What changes did you make to the online offer?
We made adjustments to our members' visit limits (reduction to 8 live classes per month) as well as to our partner cooperation agreements related to the Live Online offer, which included reducing the partner payout to a fixed amount for all partners regardless of their sports category or studio size. This decision was made so that we did not have to stop offering Live Online Classes for everybody. We understand a reduced payout is frustrating for partners, but we could not continue as during the pandemic, as well as the fact that online classes do not have any capacity restrictions.
Why is my favourite online partner no longer part of the Live Online offer?
In order to continue to offer members the possibility of joining Live Online Classes, we had to make adjustments to our partner cooperation agreements related to the digital offer, which included a change to our online payout structure. We had to make this tough decision or else completely stop offering Live Online Classes.
Unfortunately, for a small number of partners, we could not come to an agreement to keep them as part of the Urban Sports Club online offer. We completely understand this, as our partners also have to make decisions based on financial feasibility. While it’s sad for us and naturally also Urban Sports members to see them leave our offer, we fully support our partner's decision and look forward to continuing our partnership offline.
I want to work out online more than 8 times per month, what can I do?
You can check out our Video on-Demand platform, where you can watch unlimited videos per month. Alternatively, our partners still have unlimited online offers that they offer directly, which may be a better fit. We want to create a world where everyone enjoys doing sports, whether with Urban Sports Club or through our network of partners.