Big Blue Swim School franchise unit economics
Big Blue Swim School franchisees build and run purpose-built indoor swim schools that sell year-round swim lessons for children, inside an area of protection.
Big Blue Swim School franchise at a glance
In its 2026 FDD Big Blue Swim School reports 2025 sales for 42 franchised and company-owned schools, with averages by years open for all schools and for franchised schools alone.
Big Blue Swim School’s 42 schools open all of 2025, 22 franchised and 20 affiliate-owned, averaged $1,636,545 of sales, with a median of $1,620,442, according to Item 19 of Big Blue Swim School’s 2026 FDD, issued 15 June 2026. The 42 Big Blue Swim School schools are 81%* of Big Blue Swim School’s 52 schools at the end of 2025.
- A Big Blue Swim School franchise costs $1,898,350 to $3,478,100 to open, including a $50,000 initial franchise fee, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- Big Blue Swim School charges a royalty of 6% of sales and a 2% brand fund contribution.
- On Averan's reading, Big Blue Swim School's franchise fees come to about 10% of sales.
- Big Blue Swim School reported 30 franchised locations in its 2026 FDD.
- 20 of Big Blue Swim School’s 42 schools, or 47.6%, reached the average of all 42.
- Work out Big Blue Swim School's fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
These figures come from Big Blue Swim School's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
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Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- A second-year school bills 76.3% of a mature one. That is $1,347,898 against $1,765,429 across all schools, and $1,320,055 against $1,728,979 among franchised ones *. The same ratio both ways, so the build-up is consistent.
- Local marketing falls as revenue rises, from 6% to 2%. That is 6% below $1,500,000, then 5%, 4%, 3% and 2% above $2,500,000. So the local spend runs 6% at a second-year school and 2% at the highest-selling one, while the royalty, brand fund and software license paid to the brand stay at 10.0% *.
- The minimum royalty is $71,500 a year and 6% overtakes it at $1,191,667. That is $5,500 for each four-week period *. The lowest-selling school billed $430,514, so its royalty is 16.6% of revenue against 6%.
- The build costs 1.19 to 2.18 times a franchised school’s annual revenue. The build is $1,898,350 to $3,478,100 including real estate, against $1,598,867 of revenue *. Of that build, $90,850 to $133,600 goes to the brand.
- Zero schools closed and none were terminated in three years. Franchised schools went 7 to 30 and the affiliate estate 11 to 22, so the whole system tripled from 18 to 52 * with one reacquisition as the only departure.
How much does a Big Blue Swim School franchise make?
Big Blue Swim School’s 42 schools open all of 2025, 22 franchised and 20 affiliate-owned, averaged $1,636,545 of sales and their median was $1,620,442. The brand’s disclosure document discloses revenue and not profit, so what an owner keeps depends on the cost structure set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 10% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling businesses are below.
Top performers
What separates the top Big Blue Swim School performers
Big Blue Swim School publishes a range for its locations instead of grouped averages. The highest-selling of the 42 Big Blue Swim School locations open all of 2025 had $3,371,295 of sales. The lowest-selling Big Blue Swim School location in that group had $430,514. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $1,620,442. The average was $1,636,545. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.The highest-selling Big Blue Swim School location sells 7.8× the lowest-selling one, a gap too wide for operations alone to explain. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $1,898,350 to $3,478,100, a 1.8× range inside one brand.
- Fees and the minimum.Fees run about 10.0% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
- Cash needed in the first year.A Big Blue Swim School in its second year bills 76.3% of a mature school. The filing gives no costs, so it does not show the month sales cover costs.
Live operating levers
- Enrollment.Track how many lesson places are filled, the price of each, and how long families stay.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 42 of Big Blue Swim School’s 52 schools at the end of 2025, made up of 22 of its 30 franchised schools and 20 of its 22 affiliate-owned schools. Locations open less than the full year or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded.
- What the filing does not include.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations.
Mature and building up
Sales by years open and ownership, 2025
| Group | All schools | Affiliate owned | Franchised |
|---|---|---|---|
| All 42, average | $1,636,545 | $1,677,992 | $1,598,867 |
| All 42, median | $1,620,442 | $1,701,774 | $1,465,723 |
| All 42, highest | $3,371,295 | $2,707,122 | $3,371,295 |
| All 42, lowest | $430,514 | $430,514 | $692,436 |
| All 42, at or above the average | 20 of 42, 48% | 10 of 20, 50% | 10 of 22, 45% |
| Mature, 29, average | $1,765,429 | $1,804,482 | $1,728,979 |
| Mature, median | $1,674,627 | $1,775,682 | $1,651,117 |
| Mature, at or above the average | 15 of 29, 52% | 9 of 14, 64% | 6 of 15, 40% |
| building up, 13, average | $1,347,898 | $1,382,849 | $1,320,055 |
| building up, median | $1,510,438 | $1,528,829 | $1,341,679 |
| building up, at or above the average | 8 of 13, 62% | 4 of 6, 67% | 4 of 7, 57% |
Every figure is as the brand reported it. Mature meaning opened in 2023 or earlier and building up meaning opened during 2024, excluding the ten schools that opened during 2025.
The gap between a second-year school and a mature one is $417,531 *. The ratio holds at 76.3% whether measured across all schools or across franchised ones alone, which makes it a usable planning number.
The building up median exceeds the building up average. $1,510,438 against $1,347,898 *, pulled down by the system’s lowest-selling school at $430,514, so the typical second-year school is closer to $1.5 million than to $1.35 million.
Affiliate-owned schools bill about 4.5% more at every years open. That is 4.9% across all schools, 4.4% among mature ones and 4.8% among building up ones *, a consistent, small edge.
The highest-selling school in the system is a franchised one. That is $3,371,295 against a top affiliate school of $2,707,122, 24.5% more *, and 7.83 times the lowest-selling school anywhere in the group.
The franchised median is 91.7% of the franchised average. $1,465,723 against $1,598,867 *, against an affiliate median that sits above its own average.
Discounts available
- Big Blue Swim School charges $40,000 for each school after the first under a Development Rights Agreement.
From Item 5 of the Big Blue Swim School 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
Fees by revenue level
Franchise fees at five revenue levels
| Charge | Rate | $430,514 | $1,347,898 | $1,598,867 | $1,765,429 | $3,371,295 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% or $5,500 a four-week period | $71,500 | $80,874 | $95,932 | $105,926 | $202,278 |
| Brand fund | 2% now, up to 3% | $8,610 | $26,958 | $31,977 | $35,309 | $67,426 |
| Local marketing | 6% to 2% by trailing revenue | $25,831 | $80,874 | $79,943 | $70,617 | $67,426 |
| Software license | 1.3% to 2% | $8,610 | $26,958 | $31,977 | $35,309 | $67,426 |
| Paid to the brand | Royalty, brand fund and software license | $88,720, 20.6% | $134,790, 10.0% | $159,886, 10.0% | $176,544, 10.0% | $337,130, 10.0% |
Every rate, tier and minimum is as the brand reported it at a new franchisee’s 2% software rate, and each dollar figure and share is marked *.
The local marketing rate falls as revenue rises. That is 6% up to $1,499,999, then 5%, 4%, 3% and 2% above $2,500,000. So a school below $1.5 million spends three times the share that the highest-selling school spends. That is the brand forcing marketing where it is most needed.
Crossing $1,500,000 of trailing revenue saves a point of local marketing. Worth $15,000 at that revenue *, and the tier boundaries at $1.75 million, $2 million and $2.5 million each save another point.
The minimum royalty of $71,500 makes the lowest-selling school pay 16.6% against 6%. That is $5,500 for each of thirteen four-week periods *. Six percent overtakes it at $1,191,667, below the $1,347,898 average of second-year schools.
The minimum royalty starts after twelve weeks of trading. The brand has agreed case by case to reduce the royalty or abate the minimum on trailing revenue. So the schedule is negotiable in practice.
An advertising cooperative of up to 4% sits unused. None have been formed and contributions are yet to be required, and if one were, its contributions would count toward the local marketing requirement.
Building the pool
Cost to open against school revenue
| Measure | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Total initial investment, including real estate | $1,898,350 | $3,478,100 |
| Of which to the brand or an affiliate | $90,850 | $133,600 |
| Initial franchise fee | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| Against a franchised school’s average revenue * | 1.19 times | 2.18 times |
| Against a mature school’s average revenue * | 1.08 times | 1.97 times |
| With development rights, minimum two schools | $1,913,350 | $3,493,100 |
Every investment figure is as the brand reported it including real estate, and the revenue comparisons are marked *.
Franchise fees take 4.8% of the low-end build and 3.8% of the high end. $90,850 and $133,600 *, so almost the entire decision here is construction and property.
A mature school earns back the low-end build in 1.08 years of revenue. $1,765,429 against $1,898,350 *, which is a revenue comparison, but it frames how much volume a pool has to have.
Development rights cost $15,000 a school in deposits. On top of the first school’s full $50,000 fee, for a minimum of two schools, so committing to a second school costs $15,000 at signing.
The area of protection is drive time, at ten to fifteen minutes. Measured from the site or from the center of the proposed trade area before a site is found, with contours set by streets and highways. So the protection follows how far a parent will drive.
Software runs 1.3% to 2% of revenue. New franchisees pay 2% and some legacy owners less depending on how many schools they hold, which at the franchised average is $31,977 a year *, a percentage cost.
Openings and closures, 2023 to 2025
Units opened and closed, 2023 to 2025
| Year | At start | Opened | Terminations | Reacquired | At end | Net * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 15 | +8 |
| 2024 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 23 | +8 |
| 2025 | 23 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 30 | +7 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it and the net column is marked. Over the same three years the affiliate estate went from 11 schools to 22.
Exactly eight franchised schools opened in each of the three years. That is 24 in total *, against a single departure, which was a reacquisition.
The whole system tripled, from 18 schools to 52. Franchised schools went from 7 to 30 and affiliate-owned schools from 11 to 22 *.
Zero schools closed during 2025, even temporarily. On a build costing up to $3,478,100, that record is the main signal in the outlet tables.
Ten of the 52 schools opened during 2025 and sit outside the figures. They are two affiliate-owned and eight franchised schools, 19.2% of the system *.
The affiliate estate is 42% of the system. 22 of 52 schools, so the brand has a large share of its own operating risk. Its schools appear in every table on this page alongside the franchised ones.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks
How much does a Big Blue Swim School franchise make?
Big Blue Swim School’s 42 schools open all of 2025, 22 franchised and 20 affiliate-owned, averaged $1,636,545 of sales, with a median of $1,620,442, according to Item 19 of Big Blue Swim School’s 2026 FDD, issued 15 June 2026. The 42 Big Blue Swim School schools are 81%* of Big Blue Swim School’s 52 schools at the end of 2025.
What does a Big Blue school bill at Big Blue Swim School?
Across 42 schools open all of 2025, the average was $1,636,545 of sales and the median $1,620,442, with a high of $3,371,295 and a low of $430,514. Franchised schools averaged $1,598,867 and affiliate-owned ones $1,677,992. Mature schools, meaning those open since 2023 or earlier, averaged $1,765,429; schools that opened in 2024 averaged $1,347,898.
How fast does a Big Blue Swim School location build up?
A school in its second full year bills 76.3% of what a mature one does, $1,347,898 against $1,765,429 across all schools, and $1,320,055 against $1,728,979 among franchised ones. The building up median is $1,510,438, above the building up average, because the group contains the system’s lowest-selling school at $430,514.
What fees does Big Blue Swim School charge?
Big Blue Swim School charges a 6% royalty with a minimum of $5,500 for each four-week period after the first twelve weeks of trading, a brand fund contribution of 2% today against a 3% ceiling, and a software license of 1.3% to 2%. Local marketing follows a sliding scale from 6% down to 2% of trailing twelve-month revenue. A cooperative of up to 4% is permitted, and none have been formed.
Why does the marketing requirement fall as revenue rises at Big Blue Swim School?
The requirement falls because the tiers run backwards. The rate is 6% up to $1,499,999, 5% to $1,749,999, 4% to $1,999,999, 3% to $2,499,999 and 2% above that. On our reading the fees paid to the brand (royalty, brand fund and software license) stay at 10.0% from a second-year school to the highest-selling ones, and the local marketing on top falls from 6% to 2%. The brand may change or remove the tiers on 30 days’ notice, though the requirement stays at or below 6%.
When does the minimum royalty stop binding at Big Blue Swim School?
The minimum stops binding at $1,191,667 of annual revenue, where 6% overtakes the $71,500 a year that thirteen four-week minimums come to. The lowest-selling school billed $430,514, so its royalty runs at 16.6% of revenue. The minimum starts only after twelve weeks of trading. The brand has agreed case by case to reduce the royalty or abate the minimum based on trailing revenue.
How much does a Big Blue Swim School franchise cost to open?
A Big Blue Swim School costs $1,898,350 to $3,478,100 to open including real estate, of which $90,850 to $133,600 goes to the brand or an affiliate. The initial franchise fee is $50,000. Development rights for a minimum of two schools add a $15,000 deposit for each additional school committed to, taking the range to $1,913,350 to $3,493,100.
How big is the protected area at Big Blue Swim School?
The Big Blue Swim School area of protection is roughly ten to fifteen minutes of drive time from the accepted site, or from the center of the proposed trade area before a site is found. Streets, highways and other markers set the exact boundary. It is a limited exclusive: during the term the brand and its affiliates will keep another Big Blue school out of it.
Which two numbers should run monthly at Big Blue Swim School?
Track trailing twelve-month revenue against $1,500,000, $1,750,000, $2,000,000 and $2,500,000, because each of those thresholds cuts a point off the local marketing requirement. Then track revenue against $99,306 a month, which is where 6% overtakes the royalty minimum.
- The filing gives no profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
- The filing breaks out no cost lines. Wages, rent and cost of goods are not broken out, so margin cannot be rebuilt from the document.
Questions worth putting to Big Blue Swim School
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.
- Which factors does Big Blue Swim School see in its highest-selling locations, such as trade area, years open and size?
- 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 Big Blue Swim School locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check 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. It checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →Which marketing tier are you in?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around the trailing-revenue thresholds that each cut a point off your marketing requirement, the $1,191,667 where 6% overtakes the minimum royalty. What a build this size has to return.
Talk to Averanthe franchise library, all 447 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners
Big Blue Swim School reads against the rest of the swim schools and youth sports group: British Swim School · Goldfish Swim School. The swim schools and youth sports 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?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?It shows each location's contribution to profit and the reporting it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?It explains what an Item 19 financial performance representation tells you and what it leaves out.
Where these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from Big Blue Swim School Franchising, LLC’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear. The figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. Big Blue Swim School® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.
These figures come from the brand's disclosure. They are not a forecast, an offer to sell a franchise or advice. Source: Big Blue Swim School Franchising, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 15 June 2026.