Accelerating the development of the sports industry and comprehensively promoting consumption has become a visionary goal for China's national economy and social development. Based on the social background of the post pandemic era of COVID-19, this study mainly uses thematic analysis and analytic hierarchy process to analyse the influencing factors of sports consumption decisions of college students in commercial fitness clubs in Dongguan City, and to construct a sports consumption decision system. Initially, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants. Subsequently, thematic analysis was employed to identify 15 factors influencing college students in Dongguan City when making sports consumption decisions at commercial fitness clubs. Finally, the analytic hierarchy process was applied to determine the relative importance of each influencing factor. The results indicate that in the post pandemic era of COVID-19, college students in Dongguan City prioritised "consumption" ( ), followed by "consumption with a wait-and-see attitude" ( ), and lastly "no consumption" ( ) in the sports consumption decisions at commercial fitness clubs. All eigenvector values passed the consistency test, indicating that the judgment matrix is logically coherent. Among the factors affecting the sports consumption decisions of college students in commercial fitness clubs in Dongguan City, economic factors are the most significant, followed by time factors, self-need factors, and other factors. The findings of this study not only offer an objective understanding and fresh insights into the factors influencing college students' sports consumption decisions in the post pandemic era of COVID-19 but also propose business strategies and practical recommendations for the sustainable development of the fitness industry and sports consumption market. The conclusions provide valuable practical guidance for promoting the healthy development of the sports consumption market and the broader sports industry in the post pandemic context.