It isn't about the customers never showing up, it is the machines taking up space on the floor, unused 90% of the time, which stops more of the free-weight crow

It isn't about the customers never showing up, it is the machines taking up space on the floor, unused 90% of the time, which stops more of the free-weight crowd from joining because the gym is too crowded. When people want to join a gym they ask the fit guy which gym they recommend. It's a bit like techies recommending thinkpads or macbooks which gave those respective products massive boosts.