Company: SPORTL
Founder and CEO: Ryan Lovelock and Matt Austin
Website: https://www.sportl.co.uk/
About SPORTL
SPORTL was founded in 2024 by Matt Austin and Ryan Lovelock, two former City investment analysts who left successful finance careers after uncovering a major market failure in the UK fitness industry. Both founders came through the Bank of England graduate scheme before moving into investment roles. However, conversations with independent gym owners revealed a crisis that no one was addressing. A dominant booking platform was taking 70% to 80% commission while paying gyms as little as £3 to £4 per attendee. Owners described the approach as damaging and impossible to avoid.
Matt and Ryan realised this problem was not isolated. Rising studio closures, long contracts, classes filled with non-paying trial users, and a lack of alternatives were leaving independent fitness businesses without sustainable revenue. SPORTL was created to give these gyms a fair and credible path forward.
Challenges Overcome:
SPORTL set out to challenge a global monopoly before the product had even launched. The company faced three major obstacles.
1. Industry resignation. During early research, 24 out of 25 independent gyms described the dominant platform as a necessary evil. Owners felt locked into two-year agreements and were watching their margins disappear every time a class was filled with low-value or non-paying users. One studio that took part in the early survey later closed, citing the commission structure as a contributing factor.
2. Building trust without a live app. To overcome this, the founders used their financial background to bring transparency and credibility to early discussions. SPORTL positioned itself as a pay-as-you-go platform with a flat 20% commission, no subscriptions, and no confusing credit systems. Even without a live product, this clear model resonated with gyms that had been demanding an alternative.
3. Proving value ahead of launch. To demonstrate commitment to the sector, SPORTL began running its own pop-up fitness classes across London. These sessions give people direct access to the type of high-quality experiences that will be bookable on the app and allow gyms and instructors to build awareness long before the platform goes live.
Industry Impact:
Despite not being live yet, SPORTL has already sparked a significant shift in the UK fitness technology landscape. More than 280 independent London gyms have signed up pre-launch, making it one of the largest early movements in the sector. For many owners, SPORTL represents the first practical and fair alternative to a commission model that was pushing studios toward closure.
The impact is both financial and structural. SPORTL has restored a sense of control for small businesses that felt dictated to by unfair terms. The model supports more sustainable revenue, allowing gyms to earn closer to their real drop in rates rather than accepting deep discounts.
With rising operating costs and global protests against unfair platforms, SPORTL arrives at a critical moment for the industry. The app is set to launch January 2025, the company has already shown that meaningful disruption can happen before an app even goes live. By uniting hundreds of gyms and placing fairness at the centre of its mission, SPORTL is redefining what a fitness marketplace can be for studios, instructors, and users across the UK.
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