How HYROX Simulations Generate Leads and Revenue for CrossFit Tooting

Turning HYROX Athletes into CrossFit Members

When the popularity of HYROX began to surge in Europe, CrossFit Tooting recognized a unique opportunity. Races were selling out within minutes, and athletes from all fitness levels were looking for a new way to challenge themselves.

At the same time, local Google searches for “HYROX classes near me” began to climb. So Liz Soutter, General Manager at CrossFit Tooting, and her team challenged themselves with a two-fold goal: First, using their CrossFit space to fill the demand. And second, converting short-term or drop-in HYROX guests to long-term CrossFit members.

The challenge, Soutter explained, is that HYROX athletes are often only buying five or ten packs of drop-ins instead of recurring monthly memberships. She attributes this to HYROX being a one-time competition event, versus CrossFit being a long-term training methodology.

“When people ask what HYROX is, I say it’s a competition, and these classes train you for that competition,” said Soutter. “CrossFit is a training methodology, it is a sport in its own right, and it will be with you for the rest of your life. HYROX is something fun you’ll do. Someone told me once that the average HYROX athlete does two races in their lifetime.”

Therefore, CrossFit Tooting’s goal is to bring in new leads that want to train for HYROX and don’t have access to the equipment elsewhere. Then, by being in the CrossFit space, it becomes a natural transition once they’re ready for the next thing after HYROX. To support this concept, CrossFit Tooting’s memberships are all-inclusive, meaning you can take both CrossFit and HYROX classes with one membership.

Driving Revenue through HYROX Simulation Events

In cities all over the world, HYROX races are selling out within minutes. To fill the gap for those wanting to compete but who are unable to get a ticket to an actual race, CrossFit Tooting—which is an official HYROX Training Club location—hosts HYROX simulation races. These sims have not only become a great marketing tool for the business, but they drive revenue as well.

“When we hosted our second HYROX event, we doubled our ticket price and the event sold out even faster than our first,” said Soutter.

She explained that the event CrossFit Tooting hosts is a full simulation of an actual HYROX race, and “we run the format as close to the real thing as possible.” Sometimes they change the order of the stations a bit, but most participants simply use it to get an idea of their timing. Oftentimes, they’ll host the simulation a month or so in advance of the actual HYROX race, so athletes can “dry run” the course.

Soutter described the events as “cheap and cheerful,” adding that key added-value elements include volunteers, professional timers, and TVs at the finish line to show names and finishing times.

The first event CrossFit Tooting hosted was for solos, capped at 30 people, and the cost was £15 per person. Several months later, they hosted a doubles event for £50 per team, and that event was capped at 60 people (30 teams). In total, these two events brought in £1950 (~$2,600 USD) for CrossFit Tooting.

How Wodify Helps YOU Run a HYROX Sim

Just like any other event you’d host at your gym, race sim day is just a small part of the big picture. From marketing and communication to membership conversion and performance tracking, Wodify is built to help you turn a single-day sim into revenue and retention. Here’s how:

Communicate Effectively

In order to have participants at your HYROX sim, they need to know it exists! You can use Wodify’s automated workflows to communicate all the details via email and SMS. Tell current members when the sim will take place, invite former members back to participate, or use the event as a touchpoint to connect with leads.

Sell Race Registration Online

Your custom-branded, online sales page for race registration sets the tone for a professional, well-run experience. Simply share the link in your communication, or even create a QR code in your gym for athletes to scan, generating revenue on your side, and making the process seamless on theirs.

Track Race Performance

To incorporate Wodify into the athlete experience, you can simply set up the HYROX Simulation workout as a benchmark.

This allows your athletes to:

• Log their simulation results directly in the platform
• Track their HYROX simulation times alongside the rest of their performance history
• Measure improvements if they repeat the event or train for future races

This is a best practice we recommend for all Wodify gyms running HYROX simulations, as it ensures your athletes don’t lose track of their performance data and keeps the event connected to their long-term training progress.

Nurture Leads to Conversion

A HYROX sim can be a powerful opportunity to get new faces in your door. And once the event is over, your goal for leads is to convert them to long-term members. Once again, Wodify Workflows saves you time by continuing to touch base automatically until they sign up. It’s like having an extra member of your sales team that works around the clock.

Looking to Host a HYROX Sim in Your Own Gym?

For HYROX affiliates, Wodify makes it super easy to host your own simulation events! From registration to results tracking, you’ll be able to run a professional, fun, revenue-generating sim race right within your gym’s facility.

And once the event is finished, don’t forget to use automated workflows to follow up with participants and turn them into long-term clients.

From the starting line to the membership milestone celebrations, Wodify is here to help.

If you’re not a Wodify customer yet, book a demo with our team today!

To learn more about CrossFit Tooting, visit the website here.