CAMP HILL, Pa.  – National Fitness Partners (NFP), one of the largest franchisees within the Planet Fitness system, announced today its role as the first-ever exclusive fitness partner of the Penn Relays, the oldest and largest track & field meet in the United States. Each year, thousands of high school, collegiate and professional athletes travel from across the country to Philadelphia for the three-day event. This year's Penn Relays will take place on April 28-30 at University of Pennsylvania's historic Franklin Field.
 
This will be National Fitness Partners' first year as a partner of the event and the franchisee is excited to bring the dynamic Planet Fitness energy to a new atmosphere and continue the pledge towards a more active lifestyle for the campus community. "We are excited to foster this relationship and work together with the Penn Relays team this year," said National Fitness Partners President Stephen Kindler, Jr. "These athletes serve as great inspiration to always work hard toward your goals and stay true to yourself, which is something that our loyal community of Planet Fitness members set out to achieve every day as well."
 
The Penn Relays began in 1895, bringing star athletes from across America and internationally to compete in the prestigious meet. Now, more than 125 years later, Planet Fitness has a mission to encourage the track & field community to get moving through its onsite activations at the innovative fitness brand's booth in Carnival village during the Relays.
 
"We are very excited to have the support of National Fitness Partners at this year's return of the Penn Relays," said Scott Ward, Executive Director of The Penn Relays. "As we navigated the pandemic these past two years, our goal of hosting smaller events during that time period was to offer as many competitive opportunities as possible for the local track and field community and encourage a healthy and active lifestyle, no matter the level of ability or age.  National Fitness Partners exemplifies the spirit of the Penn Relays and we're excited to have the signature Planet Fitness brand on display, both in Franklin Field and Carnival Village for our competitors and spectators."
 
The 126^th Running of the Penn Relays will remain a three-day event with some schedule changes and the addition of an elite Olympic Development program. That program will be spread throughout the Friday and Saturday schedule, with a concentrated Friday evening session highlighted by the Women's 800m and Men's 4xMile Relay, and the addition of individual Olympic Development hurdle and sprint events on Saturday afternoon along with the high school and collegiate Championship of America finals. The tentative 2022 schedule of events can be found here. For more information on how to purchase tickets to the 2022 Penn Relays, click here.
 
JMI Sports, the exclusive multimedia rights partner of Penn Athletics and The Penn Relays, worked with National Fitness Partners to develop this partnership.
 
To learn more about Planet Fitness or sign up, please visit https://www.planetfitness.com.
 
About National Fitness Partners
National Fitness Partners is a private equity held Planet Fitness franchisee based in Camp Hill, Pa. National Fitness Partners owns and operates 107 Planet Fitness locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. National Fitness Partners is one of the largest franchisee organizations within the Planet Fitness system and has exclusive rights to develop 37 locations over the next 5 years. National Fitness Partners is backed by Argonne Capital, a private equity firm based in Atlanta, which specializes in franchise-based middle-market investments. 
 
About Planet Fitness
Founded in 1992 in Dover, NH, Planet Fitness is one of the largest and fastest-growing franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the United States by number of members and locations. As of December 31, 2021, Planet Fitness had more than 15.2 million members and 2,254 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama, Mexico and Australia. The Company's mission is to enhance people's lives by providing a high-quality fitness experience in a welcoming, non-intimidating environment, which we call the Judgement Free Zone®. More than 90% of Planet Fitness stores are owned and operated by independent businessmen and women. 
 
About Penn Athletics 
The Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics is a broad-based division comprising 33 intercollegiate teams, 37 club sport teams, and expansive intramural sport and campus recreation programs, all taking place within 22 athletics and recreational facilities. The facilities are contained within a contiguous 24-acre footprint at the eastern end of campus, commonly thought to be one of the best athletics infrastructures among urban campuses, with assets such as Franklin Field, The Palestra, and Penn Park. The Penn Relays, the oldest and largest track competition held in the US, attracts more than 110,000 spectators and 15,000 competitors each spring. 
 
About JMI Sports  
JMI Sports is a leading media rights and venue development company providing management of collegiate multimedia rights, sponsorship sales agency representation, and highly regarded project management expertise to the development of collegiate and professional sports facilities. The company serves to maximize each client's economic potential through customized initiatives, from marketing and branding solutions to facility design strategies that bring each client's vision to fruition. JMI Sports manages an impressive list of signature collegiate multimedia rights partnerships including, the University of Kentucky, Clemson University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, and joint-venture properties of the University of Georgia and Columbia University (with Learfield IMG College), and University of Notre Dame (with Legends). JMI Sports also represents several high-profile conferences including the Ivy League, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, the Southern Conference and the Patriot League. Additionally, JMI Sports serves as third-party sales representation for premier venues and events including the Breeders' Cup Championships, Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center, The Armory in New York City, the Millrose Games, and the Penn Relays. The company's facility development team is currently collaborating with Legends on the new Snapdragon Stadium and Mission Valley development for San Diego State University in San Diego, CA. Celebrating its 15^th anniversary in 2021, JMI Sports was founded by CEO Erik Judson and technology entrepreneur John Moores, former owner of the San Diego Padres.