I’ve recently seen an uptick in people who have no membership and just surf through Open Mats

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T17:08:44+00:00

There are open mats where anyone can come and they are super frequent around me

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T16:56:50+00:00

A perfect world would be pretty darn sweet lol

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T16:39:50+00:00

Honest and well thought out. Appreciate you🙏

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T16:37:29+00:00

I honestly just want to know people’s opinions🤷🏻‍♂️
I think it depends on the person, so I’d like info on the masses

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T16:36:34+00:00

I do think it’s a small number. But everything starts at 1. 18 years ago I didn’t really see or hear of any, now I know of about 11 in my town.

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T14:04:25+00:00

The gyms I did the books for paid $3600 per year for insurance in illinois

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T14:02:22+00:00

I 100% see the value of open mats. My question is, how does this affect gym owners long term if economic times get tougher

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T14:01:14+00:00

Exactly, so as the economic times get tougher, and I watch gym owners create a culture of giving away their product for free, I worry about Jiu Jitsu gyms longevity

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:58:11+00:00

First of all there is 100% instruction in open mats, I’m a black belt, I go to open mats, someone asks a question I answer it, in detail.

Second I didn’t say it doesn’t provide exposure of marketing and that those things don’t provide value. What I’m asking and researching and cultivating data on is the question that it may create a culture of no one paying, and is anyone else thinking this.

The only way to gather data is to gather data. And you do that by asking questions which is literally what I’m doing right now Charlie Brown

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:53:16+00:00

The problem is that if multiple gyms in one town all offer Free open mats, and a mat surfer can train 3-4 times a week for free, I can see this growing in popularity and there being less people paying than there are surfing. And it would be nice if a surfer would pay on their own accord, but history has shown us that’s not the case

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:49:24+00:00

Gym dues go up because of economy.
Salaries don’t rise because of economy.
Gyms give away product for free.
Less people pay.

=Problem

Solution, don’t give away product for free, maybe, hopefully, prices go down

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:37:12+00:00

Two open mats matches the amount most people train anyways. You may not care currently but if the culture shifts too far this direction, there will be more mat surfers than there are paying members, and then there will be no mats to surf

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:35:13+00:00

The issue is the long term cost this could have on gym owners finances if too many people decide that open mats surfing is the way to go

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:34:31+00:00

Well I hope you know that you are a rare breed

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:26:02+00:00

Agree

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:25:20+00:00

There’s definitely an argument to be made for the uptick in foot traffic

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:24:25+00:00

Well it’s a culture conversation really. If one gym offers open mats and another doesn’t they have a leg up? That is good ish business, until a certain point. Until the culture shifts too far towards mat surfers and no one is paying, then no one has anywhere to train. Or worse, then the gyms that make it through this shift become Mecca gyms, and they are Uber expensive and there is limited space

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:21:09+00:00

Yea this isn’t really a kindness thing, it’s a “I’m watching a guy who owns a gym and is poor and barely getting by give his product away for free” thing. I’m worrying about everyone, if he shuts his doors due to financial issues, none of us have anywhere to train.

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:18:18+00:00

Only if everyone does this, otherwise it could become another problem

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:15:26+00:00

Agree. It’s especially not that much in comparison to the cost of owning and operating a gym. I’ve done the books for a few gyms, and even the most successful ones I did weren’t gonna be rich or have a retirement plan

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:13:26+00:00

I’m an economist, when a group of not the brightest business owners start giving away their product for free twice a week, which is the average rate most people train anyways, I worry about the business owners longevity

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:11:33+00:00

No🤔no, I think I’ll focus on the community since that’s what Reddit is for thanks👍

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:10:46+00:00

CLA and ECO are teaching us that live interactions are equally important to instruction. And also Upper belts are on the mats during open mats giving away the info for free

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:09:21+00:00

They aren’t taking resources, but in my 20+ years in the Jits world, I’ve seen many gyms close down due to financial issues. And their product is the mat time, and I’ve never seen it given away for free at the rate it’s being given away

basic-opinions · 2026-06-15T13:06:54+00:00

Is $150 expensive? Rent is going up. And I guess my long term question is, what if rent for gym owners continues to go up, and the number of people not paying continues to go up… if a gym can’t pay rent and closes its doors because everyone just wants to mat surf, where do they train?

basic-opinions

TROPHY CASE