SBA loans for fitness centers and gyms

What SBA lenders approved for gyms

Fitness and recreational sports centers (NAICS 713940: gyms, boutique studios, climbing and swim facilities and similar) took 3,460 SBA 7(a) loans from FY2024 through June 2026, worth $1,437,245,200, from 478 lenders. The median loan was $250,000 and the middle half ran from $64,625 to $500,000. The top tenth started at $871,090, and 271 loans (7.8%) were $1 million or more.

The figure that defines this industry is the start-up share. More than half of the loans, 51.7%, went to businesses that had not yet opened, and 40.5% went to franchises. Acquisitions, by contrast, were only 6% of loans, well below the national 10.4%.

Underwriting a gym that has not opened

With no operating history there is no past debt service coverage to measure. The lender tests coverage on the projection and underwrites everything around it. Four things carry a start-up gym file.

• Equity. For a start-up, SBA requires an equity injection of at least 10% of total project costs, and lenders commonly want more for a fitness concept because most of the money goes into leasehold improvements that are worth little if the gym closes. Cash in the deal is the lender's clearest sign that the owner shares the risk. See how much equity lenders want.
• Experience. A lender wants to see that the owner has managed a gym or studio, or has run a business with staff, members and a lease. A certified trainer with no management history is a harder file than a former general manager. SBA Form 1919 and the owner's resume carry this.
• The projection. A month-by-month forecast of membership growth, attrition, rent, payroll and loan payments, from opening through the point the gym breaks even. Lenders test it against the brand's other locations or comparable gyms and ask what happens if membership builds more slowly. Pre-sale memberships sold before opening are real evidence of demand, and worth documenting.
• Outside support. Lenders look at how the owner lives until the gym covers a salary: a spouse's income, other businesses, liquid savings left after the equity injection. Every owner of 20% or more personally guarantees the loan, and where business collateral falls short, lenders must take what is available, which often includes a lien on the owner's home.

On a start-up gym, the lender is lending against the owner before it is lending against the business.

Franchise studios

Franchises were 40.5% of fitness loans, and for good reason on both sides. A franchise gives the owner a tested format, a brand and a buying program for equipment. It gives the lender something to underwrite in place of the missing history: the franchise disclosure document, where many brands publish how their existing units perform, and the brand's record of openings and closures.

Lenders read that record closely. A young brand with fast unit growth and little history of mature locations is harder to finance than an established one, even with an identical owner. Some lenders limit how much they will lend to any one concept, so which lenders see the file matters. The franchise agreement must also meet SBA's eligibility rules.

Owners signing a multi-unit development agreement should know that most lenders finance units one at a time, on the performance of the ones already open. A development schedule that commits the owner to opening faster than the first units can prove themselves is a risk the lender will see, even if the franchisor does not flag it.

The $250,000 line in SBA's rate caps

The median loan of $250,000 sits exactly on one of SBA's rate-cap lines. SBA caps variable 7(a) rates at the base rate plus 6% from $50,001 to $250,000 and plus 4.5% from $250,001 to $350,000, with plus 3% above $350,000. A loan of $250,000 and one of $250,001 therefore face different ceilings. The cap is a ceiling rather than the price, and the median rate here, 10.25%, matches the national median, but an owner sizing a request near that line should know where it falls. For current pricing, see SBA loan rates.

SBA Express, which goes up to $500,000, carried 27.1% of fitness loans. Express lets the lender use its own credit process, which suits equipment refreshes and working capital for established gyms more than a full build-out.

Buying an existing gym

Only 207 loans financed a change of ownership, at a median of $316,000 and a median rate of 9.75%. The share is small, but a purchase is often the stronger credit: the lender can see real members paying real dues. For a complete change of ownership, SBA requires an equity injection of at least 10% of total project costs, and a seller note can supply up to half of that only if it is on full standby for the life of the SBA loan. Where the amount financed, less appraised real estate and equipment, exceeds $250,000, or buyer and seller are related, SBA requires an independent business valuation, and the loan for the purchase cannot exceed it. From 1 October 2026 every change of ownership also needs financial due diligence. SBA prohibits an earnout to the seller, and the seller may stay only as a consultant, for up to 12 months (24 from 1 October 2026), not as an owner, officer or employee. See how SBA 7(a) finances an acquisition and seller notes and full standby.

Gym purchases carry their own diligence points:

• Membership quality. Active members, monthly attrition, and billing history from the payment processor. Members paying monthly by automatic draft are worth more to a lender than a list of lapsed accounts.
• Prepaid memberships. Annual and multi-year memberships the seller already collected are obligations the buyer inherits without the cash. Lenders expect the purchase price to account for them.
• Equipment age. Worn equipment is a near-term capital need that comes straight out of the cash flow the lender is counting on.
• The lease. Assignable, with a remaining term, counting options, that covers the loan.
• The latest full year of figures for the gym being bought, never an older year, and the signed letter of intent.

Once a gym has history, the coverage test applies. SBA requires debt service coverage of at least 1.15x, and from 1 October 2026 a change of ownership must show 1.25x on historical results, the level conventional bank lenders commonly look for. A gym whose returns show cash flow of 250 against proposed payments of 200 covers exactly 1.25x. See debt service coverage ratio.

Owning the building: SBA 504

SBA 504 financed 271 fitness projects in the period, at a median of $1,045,000, more than four times the 7(a) median: gyms buying or building the premises they occupy, or long-life equipment. 504 finances owner-occupied real estate and long-life equipment, typically 50% from a bank, 40% from the CDC and 10% from the borrower, with the CDC's share going up to $5 million. A new business puts in 15% rather than 10%, as does a special-purpose property (20% for both), which matters in an industry where most borrowers are start-ups. The gym must occupy at least 51% of an existing building, or 60% of new construction. See SBA 7(a) vs SBA 504.

Preparing a fitness file

For an operating gym or a purchase, SBA's standard list applies: business tax returns for 2–3 years, a P&L and balance sheet with a year-to-date P&L through last month-end, a debt schedule with copies of notes being refinanced, personal tax returns and a personal financial statement for each owner of 20% or more, and the owner's resume. For a start-up, the business plan and use-of-proceeds narrative moves from optional to central.

What a fitness file needs beyond the forms: the lease or letter of intent for the space, the contractor's bid for the build-out, the equipment quote, the franchise agreement and disclosure document, membership and attrition reports from the billing system, and pre-sale results where they exist.

Transparent turns those documents into a full lender package — financing model, lender presentation, blind teaser and underwriting memo — in a day, and takes it to the lenders in its book that write SBA 7(a) and 504, 278 of them. With 478 lenders approving fitness loans in the period and each holding its own view of concepts and brands, choosing where the file goes is most of the work. On SBA loans the lender pays Transparent, not the borrower. See the package and how we underwrite.