Recently TITLE Boxing Club announced a partnership with Everlast, the global leader in boxing, mixed martial arts and fitness related products. Both companies will join forces to develop an international fitness franchise, Everlast Fitness.
For TITLE Boxing Club, international expansion was a priority, however due to trademarking issues with the TITLE Boxing name, this was not possible. “As the brand started to grow, we started to look into expanding internationally,” said John Rotche, the CEO of TITLE Boxing Club. “We ran into some trademark issues with TITLE Boxing on an international level. We started having conversations with Neil Morton, the CEO of Everlast worldwide, because they really control their trademark in the majority of the countries around the globe.”
By partnering with Everlast, TITLE Boxing Club could not only resolve the trademark issues in order to expand internationally, but the company can now expand points of distribution. “Everlast is a 100-year-old company, with products sold in more than 75 countries,” explained Rotche. “They have proven themselves as both a domestic and international distribution powerhouse. So now we have international points of distribution, we have the trademark issue taken care of and additionally, Everlast is a very recognizable brand. So you take all of those reasons and it made sense for us.”
And according to Rotche, the partnership also made sense for Everlast, who had expressed interest in getting involved in the franchise space. “The franchise model is a tremendous source for distribution, especially if you are in the equipment business like Everlast,” said Rotche. “However, franchising is a very different business model than being in the equipment business. The best option was to partner with someone who knows the franchise business.”
In 2015, Inc. Magazine recognized TITLE Boxing Club as the fastest growing franchise in America. Additionally, Rotche is a 25-year franchise veteran and on the board of directors for the International Franchise Association. “I believe Everlast felt comfortable with my background and my team’s background,” he said. “Everlast saw that we were a company that had the experience, we have a foot print domestically, we have a proven business model, and for them to all of a sudden learn the franchise space didn’t make sense. At the same time, there is such a demand for TITLE Boxing Club globally, we knew we wanted to leverage everything we built and do it on an international basis.”
Through the partnership, the TITLE Boxing Club business model will be re-launched internationally under the name Everlast Fitness. “We are starting in Mexico by converting a TITLE Boxing Club in Cancun into an Everlast Fitness,” said Rotche. “We are going to be opening up about 12 Everlast Fitness locations within the next 12 to 18 months in Mexico, but we are also launching Everlast Fitness through Canada in the next 90 days. Then we have tremendous interest for our brand in multiple countries. Some of our targeted areas are Australia, China and of course throughout the UK and Europe.”
The growth of TITLE Boxing Club is not limited to international expansion. Rotche explained TITLE Boxing Club is experiencing the highest growth in the company’s history. “Right now we have a tremendous growth plan here in 2016. We will be opening up about a club a week. But based on our growth rate right now, the numbers should be significantly higher then even a club a week,” added Rotche. “TITLE Boxing as a brand has evolved over the years and we are now introducing our boutique studio look and feel.”
Impressive! Thanks for sharing 🙂