CrossFit Is for Sale Again Amid Years of Shake-Ups

CrossFit, the crisis-riddled fitness company, is for sale once again.

The sale comes against the backdrop of several tumultuous years for the fitness brand, after a drowning at last year’s CrossFit Games, a significant drop in registrations for its annual membership-wide competition and deepening financial concerns.

The company, which has 10,000 affiliate gyms across the world, plans to “review a wide range of buyers,” according to an email sent to CrossFit gym owners this week.

“This moment of transition comes with significant opportunity,” CrossFit’s chief executive, Don Faul, said in the Mar. 12 email. “I’m excited by the potential this holds for the future of our affiliate business and CrossFit overall.”

CrossFit was created in the 1990s by Greg Glassman, a former gymnast and personal trainer, as a training program focused on varied, high-intensity workouts. The regimen exploded in popularity in the 2000s, growing to include more than 14,000 affiliate gyms worldwide.

But those numbers have declined after a series of scandals and as other fitness fads gained appeal.

In 2020, Mr. Glassman stepped down from his role after he was excoriated for his comments about the murder of George Floyd. He also faced accusations of sexual harassment, which he denied. He sold the company to Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, and Eric Roza, a technology entrepreneur and CrossFit gym owner. The company has also undergone a number of leadership changes since Mr. Glassman’s departure.

Then, last year, Lazar Dukic, a 28-year-old Serbian athlete, drowned during a swimming portion of a workout at the CrossFit Games, an international competition that draws some of the world’s fittest competitors. The Games resumed the next day.