Looking for a new gym? You've come to the right spot—the comprehensive guide to the City Sports Club. We compiled all of our expert knowledge on this page, just for you. We'll give you everything you need to know about this popular gym chain.
Looking for a new gym? You've come to the right spot—the comprehensive guide to the City Sports Club. We compiled all of our expert knowledge on this page, just for you. We'll give you everything you need to know about this popular gym chain.
City Sports Club is a solid, mid-tier fitness option for many folks in the Bay Area, California. Members probably love the various amenities, where the chain of 20 gyms features:
Of course, you can expect to see all your standard gym equipment and offerings:
City Sports Club is part of the Fitness International, LLC group, which also operates gym chains LA Fitness and Esporta. The company was founded in 1984 in Irvine, California, with its headquarters still in the same city. Current CEO as of November 2023 is Louis Welch.
All City Sports Club locations open and close at the same time. Here are their hours:
The total amount of locations we're tracking from this fitness chain.
Room for activities! Average square footage of their gyms.
How much you can expect to pay for the entry-level membership every month
This is a solid, do-everything, mid-tier gym chain that swimmers and basketball players call home. We appreciate their dedication to team sports, with tournaments and games hosted on their hardwood.
Basketball players in the Bay Area don't have many hardwood options, outside of high schools and colleges. City Sports gives them a great option to shoot their shot.
Childcare! 17 of the 20 locations from City Sports offer up childcare—a much needed amenity for parents in the Bay Area.
17 of the 20 City Sports Clubs have swimming pools—and every one of them is heated, indoors!
While City Sports checks off nearly all the boxes for most folks, there are still a few things we'd like to see.
Clubs that are more modern and updated. Being underneath parent company LA Fitness and Esporta, the City Sports brand has to compete for resources (modernizations, upgrades, facility work, etc).
More than just 4 of their 20 locations had turf. It's a popular amenity use for stretching, full body workouts, kettlebells and more.
They were clearer in their descriptions of amenities on the website. Olympic lifting platforms aren't listed as an amenity for any of their gym pages, but we've seen them in videos and social posts. Unfortunately, we had to count them as zero across all 20 clubs.
City Sports Club have clear and consistent pricing options that remain the same for all 20 of their gyms in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento. Here's what to expect:
The annual fee is $59, billed in 14 days from sign-up. Then, every year thereafter.
For both membership options, you'll get access to their standard array of fitness equipment: strength and free weight options, plus plate-loaded bars for benches and other exercises. Cardio options included ellipticals, StairMasters and treadmills.
Since there are no differences in membership access levels, things like racquetball/squash, pool and hot tub are all available to you. Same goes for cycle and group fitness classes.
Finally, "multi-club" memberships at City Sports also crosses over to Esporta and LA Fitness clubs, so you'll be able to workout at their 600+ total gyms.
We all have different bodies, different goals and different fitness journeys. Some gyms may fit a person better than others. So who would enjoy this gym most?
Free weights, strength machines and cardio equipment.
Nothing like the hot heat to warm muscles up.
An extra early or real late workout—your choice.
Stretch, sleds, bodyweight or box jumps. The turf area is the place to be.
Relieve pain post workout or soothe sore muscles.
Gym Pricing Tiers Explained
There are 3-4 main pricing tiers that nearly all gyms across the country fall into. Generally, higher prices = more amenities and services.
$10 - $25 /month — Value
$15 - $30 /month — High Value Low Price
$25 - $65 Monthly — Mid-Tier
$65 and up — Boutique/Specialty/Luxury
"Is this gym worth it?"
Use our guides to help inform and educate what a gym can offer your fitness lifestyle. Only you can truly decide if a gym is worth it!
City Sports Clubs fall into the larger "big box" type gym, with oversized locations that have tons of amenities. They're spacious and provide services many small gyms can't (pool, sauna, basketball, etc). We love the high ceilings and open, near-premium feel of their gyms, giving us an awesome feeling stepping in before a workout.
All this isn't exactly cheap, so no surprise that their pricing takes a step up into $40 to $60 a month. Other value chains—don't offer nearly as much—but also come at monthly rates sometimes half or a third of this price.
So, you need to ask yourself if things like childcare or the hot tub are important in your fitness journey. If those are a yes, the City Sports should be in the running for your consideration.
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