Sports subscription apps like Class Pass or Urban Sports rely on flexibility and stability. You pay for the greatest possible variety, but only use a fraction of what is on offer. Great for millennials too. Or?
My old pointe shoes still look new. The pink fabric shimmers like a freshly polished pearl, and the flattened toe area has virtually no scratches or cracks. I didn't get very far with pointe dancing.
I found the shoes again while clearing out, as well as a few other items of clothing from a long-ago time when ballet dancing was my only sport, but also my most important hobby: black bodysuits, pink tights, worn linen slippers with crisscrossing rubber straps that I I sewed it on myself. I threw everything away. But I had to keep the pointe shoes.
I bought it when I was in my early 20s and living in Munich, had just finished my studies and was living a contented life as a sports monogamist: three weeks at the ballet, at the same time, in the same studio with the same teacher.
Over ten years later, I live in Berlin, haven't danced for a long time and am proud of myself when I make it to yoga on Monday evenings for two consecutive weeks. Things like routine and regularity in the sports program have been replaced by: I do what I feel like doing, when it suits me, where I am at the moment.
I suspect that sports subscription apps like Class Pass or Urban Sports were invented for people like me. You pay a monthly flat rate and can train in several studios, constantly try out new courses and pay less per course than if you booked it directly with the provider.
In my Berlin city bubble, all the studios I go to accept customers who have registered via one of the two platforms. According to Class-Pass, they support the studios by “arranging their unused places in their sports courses” and helping them “open up new sources of income and win new customers.”
However, I doubt that the “new customers” will immediately say after a good experience in the new studio: Great, now I'll buy a ten-ticket here for 150 euros or take out a membership just for this studio – which would make more financial sense. I think many people think: It was nice, I'd love to come back. Probably next week. Perhaps.
At least that's how it is for me. Like so many representatives of Generation Y, I like it non-binding, but on the other hand, I am at least indirectly loyal to my favorites. I'm signed up for both Urban Sports and Class Pass because one app works with two of my favorite studios that aren't represented on the other app. And vice versa. I pay for the greatest possible variety and only use a fraction of what is on offer. I pay for the option to take my favorite courses, even though I often don't have time for them.
Typically Millennial. I want flexibility and stability at the same time. When I found my pointe shoes, I thought: I miss my monogamous sports relationship with ballet. Maybe I should start doing it again. Let's see what the apps offer.
In “Body Use” Silvia Ihring writes about striving for the right balance between fitness trends, sporting ambition and fun in exercise.
