9ROUND franchise unit economics
9ROUND franchisees run a 24-hour kickboxing circuit studio of 1,500 to 2,700 square feet. The fees take 6% in royalty and 2% to its fund, and requires 8% of revenue on local advertising, so the advertising obligation is larger than the royalty. Franchised centers fell from 365 to 141 across three years, with 183 terminations against 11 openings.
- Primary source
- 9Round Franchising, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 0 of 141 locations
- Our calculations
- Marked on the page with an asterisk. Method
- Last reviewed
- 26 September 2026
Disclosure-based. Not a forecast, not an offer to sell a franchise, and not advice.
The advertising requirement is bigger than the royalty here. 8% of revenue must be spent locally against 6% paid in royalty and 2% to the brand fund, 16% in all, plus fixed charges. At $300,000 of revenue that comes to $56,418, and the system has gone from 365 franchised centers to 141.
- Required advertising at 8% exceeds the 6% royalty. $24,000 against $18,000 at $300,000 of revenue *. The largest single brand-driven cost in the model.
- The minimums total $36,618 a year. $7,200 of royalty, $3,000 of fund, $18,000 of advertising, $5,988 of technology and about $2,430 of insurance *, 30.5% of revenue at $120,000 *.
- Fifteen new members a month keeps the brand out of your marketing. 45 in a rolling three months, or it may audit your advertising and approve your local spend for six months.
- One hundred and eighty-three centers were terminated in three years against eleven opened. A 61.4% fall in the franchised count *, the steepest contraction in this library.
- The territory can be a single city block. Up to three miles of driving distance in rural areas, set after you sign, and online membership sales inside it stay with the brand.
How much does a 9ROUND franchise make?
The 2026 FDD for 9ROUND does not publish unit revenue in a form that answers this directly. What it does publish is set out below, starting with Royalty: 6% or $600 a month; Required local advertising: 8% or $4,500 a quarter; All-in load at $300,000: 18.8%; Franchised centers, end 2025: 141.
Fifteen members a month
Forty-five new members, every three months.
| Measure | Requirement |
|---|---|
| New members, rolling three months | 45 |
| New members a month * | 15 |
| Excluded from the count | Trials and memberships under a full month |
| Consequence of falling short | Marketing audit, and approval of local spend for up to six months |
| Advertising that must fund it | 8% of revenue, or $4,500 a quarter |
The 45-member threshold and its consequences are as the brand reported it and the monthly figure divides it by three, marked *.
Falling short hands marketing decisions to the brand for half a year. An audit of your advertising, then approval rights over your local spend, a consequence measured in control.
The 8% requirement is what buys those members. $24,000 at $300,000 of revenue *, which across 180 new members a year is $133 of advertising each *.
Trials count zero against the threshold. Only memberships lasting a full month qualify, so a busy trial funnel that converts poorly still fails the test.
The center runs 24 hours a day with staffed and unstaffed periods. So capacity is rarely the constraint and member acquisition always is.
Nutrition services and personal training sit alongside the circuit. With a $500 onboarding fee for the personal training database on the first center and $200 on each later one.
Top performers
What separates the top 9ROUND performers
9ROUND publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.
Decided before you open
- Capacity, fixed at build.Locations run 1,500 to 2,700 square feet. capacity is 36 studio floor multiplied by hours multiplied by how full they run. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $160,449 to $390,300, a 2.4× range inside one brand. The high end usually buys more capacity, so the cheapest build is not always the cheapest route to the top band.
Live operating levers
- Members, the operating driver.This model bills on members. The owner watches how many people join, how many cancel, and what a member spends beyond the plan. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 18.8% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Context you underwrite around
- What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median, no performance bands, no attainment figure. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
- What the rest of the category shows.Across the 32 Fitness brands in this library that do publish bands, the top group sells 3.1× the bottom at the typical brand, and a median 43% of locations reach their own average *. Assume a spread of that order here until the franchisor shows you otherwise.
Sixteen percent, plus minimums
The advertising line is the biggest one on the page.
| Charge | Rate | $120,000 | $200,000 | $300,000 | $400,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% or $600 a month | $7,200 | $12,000 | $18,000 | $24,000 |
| Brand building fund | 2% or $250 a month | $3,000 | $4,000 | $6,000 | $8,000 |
| Local advertising | 8% or $4,500 a quarter | $18,000 | $18,000 | $24,000 | $32,000 |
| Technology | $499 a month | $5,988 | $5,988 | $5,988 | $5,988 |
| Insurance | $135 to $270 a month | $2,430 | $2,430 | $2,430 | $2,430 |
| Total | n/a | $36,618 | $42,418 | $56,418 | $72,418 |
| Share of revenue | n/a | 30.5% | 21.2% | 18.8% | 18.1% |
The rates and minimums are as the brand reported it and the dollar figures apply them at each revenue level with insurance taken at the midpoint, marked *.
The three percentages together are 16% of revenue. Before technology and insurance *, which puts this among the heaviest loads in this library.
Each minimum applies up to a different revenue level. The minimum royalty to $120,000, the fund minimum to $150,000 and the minimum advertising charge to $225,000 *, so a small center pays three fixed bills.
A center at $120,000 gives up 30.5% before rent or wages. *, which is what the minimums do to a studio that is still filling.
Buying an existing center halves the royalty for six months. $300 or 3% instead of $600 or 6%, worth up to $4,500 on a $300,000 run rate *.
Every charge here is subject to inflation adjustment. With technology, insurance and convention fees each able to rise up to 10% a year on top, so the fixed portion grows faster than prices do.
What it costs to open
A hundred and sixty thousand at the low end, and the low end assumes a resale.
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $14,900 | $19,900 |
| Equipment and inventory package | $39,800 | $41,700 |
| Grand opening marketing | $20,000 | $20,000 |
| Building work | $10,000 | $110,200 |
| Security system | $13,000 | $17,000 |
| Daily workout screens | $12,000 | $16,000 |
| Additional funds, three months | $25,000 | $61,000 |
| Total | $160,449 | $390,300 |
| Payable to the brand | $44,850 | $51,400 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, with the $10,000 building work low contemplating the purchase of an existing center instead of a new build.
A new build costs $40,000 to $110,200 of building work. Against the $10,000 in the low column, so the realistic entry point is well above $160,449.
Grand opening marketing is a fixed $20,000. Including $3,000 that may go to the brand, on top of the ongoing 8% requirement once trading.
A 24-hour studio needs a $13,000 to $17,000 security system. The second largest equipment line, and a direct consequence of unstaffed access.
Veterans pay $16,915 and second centers $14,900. A 15% and a $5,000 reduction respectively, and renewal in 2026 costs $1,000 against an usual 25% of the current fee.
The equipment package includes $25,000 bought from the brand. Of a $39,800 to $41,700 total, with shipping of $1,750 to $3,000 on top.
A system in retreat
Two hundred and twenty-four centers fewer than three years ago.
| Year | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Ceased, other | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4 | 68 | 0 | 21 | 27 |
| 2024 | 4 | 66 | 12 | 2 | 11 |
| 2025 | 3 | 49 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
| Three years | 11 | 183 | 19 | 26 | 44 |
Every movement is as the brand reported it, against a franchised count of 365 at the start of 2023 and 141 at the end of 2025.
Terminations outran openings by 16.6 to one. 183 against 11 *, and the pace slowed in 2025 only because fewer centers remained to close.
Transfers fell from 27 to 6 as the system shrank. *, so the resale market thinned alongside the estate.
Company-owned centers went from six to one. All in South Carolina, closed, so the brand exited its own alongside its franchisees.
Some closures are recorded as voluntary abandonment. Franchisees leaving the center, which usually means the lease outlasted the business.
Territorial protection covers only a physical center. Online membership sales stay with the brand nationwide, and special sites including big-box gyms, campuses, hotels and office parks are reserved inside your area.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does the brand take?
A royalty of 6% of net sales or $600 a month, whichever is greater, plus 2% or $250 a month to the brand building fund. Separately you must spend the higher of 8% of sales or $4,500 every rolling three months on local advertising. Add $499 a month of technology and $135 to $270 a month of insurance.
What does that come to?
On our reading, 30.5% of revenue at $120,000, 21.2% at $200,000, 18.8% at $300,000 and 18.1% at $400,000. The percentages alone are 16%.
Why is the advertising requirement so significant?
Because at 8% it is larger than the 6% royalty, and because it has its own minimum of $4,500 a quarter. At $300,000 of revenue it is $24,000 against $18,000 of royalty on our reading. The single biggest brand-driven cost in the model.
Is there a growth requirement?
Effectively yes. Adding fewer than 45 new members in a rolling three-month period, 15 a month on our reading, lets the brand audit your marketing and approve your local spend for up to six months. Trials and memberships under a full month are excluded from the count.
What does it cost to open?
$160,449 to $390,300, of which $44,850 to $51,400 goes to the brand. Worth noting that the $10,000 low figure for building work contemplates buying an existing center; a new build is stated at $40,000 to $110,200.
How big is the territory?
As small as a single city block, and in suburban and rural areas as large as a three-mile driving distance. It is defined only after you secure a location, is expressly non-exclusive. The brand reserves online membership sales plus special sites such as big-box gyms, campuses, hotels, airports and office parks inside it.
What is happening to the system?
It is contracting sharply. Franchised centers went from 365 at the start of 2023 to 141 at the end of 2025, with 183 terminations and 11 openings across the three years. Company-owned centers went from six to one.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
New members against 15 a month, because that threshold decides whether you or the brand directs your marketing. Revenue against $225,000 a year. Because that is where the 8% advertising requirement finally overtakes its own minimum.
- No revenue figures. The filing makes no financial performance representation, so there is no disclosed sales number for any location.
- No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
- No cost lines. Wages, rent and cost of goods are not broken out, so margin cannot be rebuilt from the document.
- No range. The filing does not show the highest and lowest locations, so the spread inside the system is unknown.
- No attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
- No ramp. The filing does not show how a new location builds up, so the first-year curve has to be assumed.
Questions worth putting to 9ROUND
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- What do locations at the median spend on wages and rent as a share of sales? The filing reports sales only.
- What did the highest and lowest locations sell last year, and what explains the gap?
- How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
- At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
- How many 9ROUND locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Finance Diagnostic runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →How many members did you add this quarter?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around a 45-member rolling threshold, an 8% advertising requirement bigger than the royalty, and minimums totaling $36,618 a year.
Request the reviewthe franchise library, all 243 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners
9ROUND reads against the rest of the group training studios group: BFT · Burn Boot Camp · D1 Training · F45 Training · Orangetheory Fitness · SWEAT440. The group training studios guide compares all of them on the same figures.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?How royalty, ad fund and minimums actually work on a monthly statement.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?A 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?Usually it is a revenue problem wearing a payroll costume.
- Revenue was the highest it has been. Why did profit not move?Where the extra revenue went, line by line.
- At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?What changes at around ten units, and why lenders care.