Mayweather's gym franchise sold his star power; dozens closed and owners sued

Mayweather Boxing and Fitness launched in 2017, founded by James Williams, a British-born Wharton graduate and former Bain consultant who met Floyd Mayweather in 2013 and saw an untapped brand: the champion had never taken a major licensing or endorsement deal. Franchisees bought in — David Weis paid $85,000 for the rights to open six studios in west Los Angeles, then spent over $1 million building out four locations. At an October 2021 convention in Las Vegas, Mayweather told owners: 'If you guys got problems with filling your gym up, call me, imma come help fill it up. For free.'

The chain peaked at 70 franchises in 2023, per a company financial statement. By mid-2025, Business Insider could confirm only 26 still operated in the US; dozens had closed over two years. Weis's four gyms all shut, the last in Culver City on May 2, 2025, and he says he lost his entire investment. Sara McSpedon, who opened two Chicago gyms, estimates she is out $750,000. Four franchisees have sued Mayweather, the company and its cofounders; six more are aiming for mediation. Mayweather owns 31.45% of parent MW Fitness Holdings, per a 2023 filing.

Franchisees say the champion — with tens of millions of social media followers, compared to George Foreman and his grill — never promoted the brand enough, touting other ventures instead. Mayweather's attorney, Bobby Samini, responds that more than 30 locations are open, that boutique fitness broadly has suffered, and that franchise agreements never obligated Mayweather to provide services 'other than licensing his name.' Williams concedes the chain struggled but says 'franchisees think Floyd is the silver bullet to a business that may be struggling, and he's just not.'

Dozens of the 70-peak franchises closed; Business Insider verified only 26 still open. Franchisees report six-to-seven-figure losses; four sued, six sought mediation.

The pitch sold the man, not the business model — franchisees recall leaving the 2021 convention thinking 'this guy is going to take us to the moon.'

The contracts never bound Mayweather to promote anything; his onstage promises were unenforceable goodwill, and his attorney says so explicitly.

Single-modality boutique fitness was shrinking as inflation pushed members toward cheaper big-box gyms and home workouts, with memberships at some locations costing up to $300 a month.

Franchising scaled the failure: dozens of owners took on identical six-figure buildout costs while relying on the same absent endorser.

Celebrity licensing without celebrity obligation transfers none of the star power: if the famous name is not contractually required to show up, franchisees are buying a logo, not an engine.

As of the June 2025 report, four franchisees were suing Mayweather, the company and its cofounders, with six more seeking mediation. The company shared hundreds of publicity photos and videos of Mayweather taken for gym marketing, plus a batch of more than two dozen Instagram stories it says he posted in October 2022; the two gyms he visited for content — Torrance, California, and a Kansas City location owned by his brother-in-law — have both since closed.