ANP
News from the NOS•today, 08:24
Rising gas and energy prices affect everyone – everything is getting more expensive. This also applies to sport. Nearly half of gym owners and fitness entrepreneurs are considering or have already decided to increase their membership fee. This emerged from a survey among the members of the trade association NL Actief. Not only in the fitness sector, but also in the rest of the sports sector, associations are considering increasing their contribution.
Around 1,000 locations with a total of 3 million fitness consumers are affiliated with NL Actief. Of the entrepreneurs who took part in the survey, 33% say they are considering increasing their contribution, and 14% say they certainly will.
Last resort
“They do it reluctantly, but they say there is no other way, and they also indicate that they certainly don’t compensate enough. Entrepreneurs who don’t increase often do so out of fear of layoff,” the report said. The last category is made up of 10 percent of the interviewed entrepreneurs. Others think they won’t or are still in doubt.
According to Ronald Wouters, director of NL Actief, an increase in contributions is a last resort: “It’s a dilemma for many entrepreneurs. On the one hand you don’t want to lose customers, on the other you can’t really do anything else.”
If I raise the price by 10 euros, people will no longer come to our gym.
Fitness entrepreneur Ton Schouten is one of the entrepreneurs who want to raise their rates: “I think I will increase all contributions by 2 euros”.
Together with his daughter, Schouten runs the Fitnessclub Nederland, a gym group with twelve locations. They also have a sports and wellness center, which is where the problems are greatest, she says. The three tennis courts, two padel courts, two sports halls and a large fitness room together consume a lot of gas and electricity.
Energy bill too high
“Normally we have an energy bill ranging from 60,000 to 70,000 euros per year,” Schouten explains. That’s already a lot, but with the expiration of his permanent contract on January 1st it will be much higher. “All in all, I will reach 360,000 euros for gas and electricity next year, and this is not possible”.
Schouten does not want to pass everything on to his customers. “If I raise the price by 10 euros, people will no longer come to us to play sports. Hence the figure of 2 euros”. He wants to try to deal with the rest with adjustments, such as turning down the heat, closing the locker rooms and possibly a shower ban.
Associations
Due to the energy crisis, sports clubs also have a higher price in the air. Last summer, the Mulier Institute, which studies all kinds of sports-related issues, concluded that 48 percent of sports associations expect to have to increase their membership fee next year, while energy prices were even moderate compared to today’s prices at the time of the survey.
Last month the KNVB also sounded the alarm about the consequences of the energy crisis in football: “Rising energy costs are putting sport under heavy financial pressure. This means that football associations feel obliged to increase the contribution”. so it says on the site.
Between shore and ship
Last week, the cabinet unveiled plans to help SMEs with high energy costs. But much is still not clearand according to NL director Actief Wouters, this is the hot topic: “Entrepreneurs don’t know what to expect, it’s hard to take action if you don’t know what you can count on.”
Lodewijk Klootwijk of Platform Ondernemende Sportsproviders (which includes gym owners) is also concerned: “Small sports providers can join the family program, big companies can join big users. The group in the middle will fall between two stools. Autumn . “
Fortunately, I still have three months to take action, so I’ll invest in solutions first.
In any case, the SME regime will not apply to sports associations, but the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is looking for solutions. Talks between the ministry and the sports sector are still ongoing. According to the department, a letter will be sent to the House of Representatives next month about possible support.
Fitness entrepreneur Schouten remains optimistic: “Fortunately, I still have three months to act, so I’ll invest in solutions first. You have to do what you can influence.”
