Gyms and clubs franchise finance
The median brand here reports average revenue of $698,258 a unit. Percentage fees at the median brand come to 8.5% of sales. The median cost to open runs $547,030 to $1,912,050.
Gyms and clubs franchises at a glance
- Averan Franchise compares ten gyms and clubs franchise brands, each from its own 2026 FDD.
- The cost to open a gyms and clubs franchise runs from $155,388 at UFC GYM to $5,386,000 at Planet Fitness.
- UFC GYM reports the highest average sales of these brands, at $3,971,640, and Snap Fitness the lowest, at $277,584.
- Franchise fees take 7% to 13.93% of sales across the six brands where Averan Franchise works out the figure.
These figures come from each brand's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
Find a gyms and clubs brand
This guide covers ten brands, each from its own 2026 FDD. Open one, or pick two and compare them.
All 10 brands
The brands in this group
Each brand has its own page on how its locations make money, with every figure set out against the brand’s disclosure document it comes from.
- Anytime Fitness Revenue by group · A flat monthly royalty, so franchise fees cost 0.49% of sales at the top and 11.18% at the bottom
- Crunch Fitness Full P&L · Full P&L at four club ages; members flat after year one
- Fitness Premier Every location listed · Eleven named clubs with a full P&L each, and the lease decides the outcome
- Gold’s Gym 182 locations · Outlet closures
- My Gym 160 locations · No financial performance representation
- Planet Fitness Revenue by group · Wages rise 23% while revenue doubles, the staffing minimum is the whole model
- Snap Fitness Revenue by group · No percentage royalty at all, $30,323 a year of flat charges plus 73 cents a member a month
- UFC GYM High/Low/Average/Median across 25 managed Signature and UFC FIT gyms
- Workout Anytime Revenue quartiles for 181 clubs, with active members, square footage, revenue per member and revenue per square foot reported for the top quartile only
- World Gym No financial performance representation
The figures, brand by brand
| Measure | Median | Brands | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average sales per unit | $698,258 | 7 of 10 | Median of each brand’s disclosed average |
| Median sales per unit | $448,160 | 5 of 10 | Median of each brand’s disclosed median |
| Initial franchise fee | $40,000 | 10 of 10 | |
| Royalty | 5.5% | 8 of 10 | Headline rate |
| Brand or advertising fund | 2% | 8 of 10 | |
| Fees paid to the brand | 8.5% | 6 of 10 | Royalty, brand fund and other fees paid to the brand or its affiliates, as a share of average sales |
| Cost to open, low | $547,030 | 10 of 10 | |
| Cost to open, high | $1,912,050 | 10 of 10 | |
| Profit margin | Fewer than three disclose | 2 of 10 | Each brand’s own profit line; definitions differ |
| Labor, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 2 of 10 | |
| Building costs, share of revenue | Fewer than three disclose | 2 of 10 | |
| Unit growth over each FDD’s Item 20 period (2025, or 2023 to 2025) | -1% | 10 of 10 | (End − start) ÷ start |
| Customers lost over each FDD’s Item 20 period (2025, or 2023 to 2025) | 4.8% | 8 of 10 | Terminated, non-renewed, reacquired and ceased, ÷ opening units; transfers excluded |
Each figure is the median of the brands that disclose it, and the Brands column counts them.
How we calculated this
Revenue is each brand's own reported figure on its own unit basis, so the median describes the group and no single brand. Growth and customers lost are our calculations from each brand's outlet table. Where fewer than three brands disclose a figure, no benchmark is shown.
The model
The business model the top performers in gyms and clubs are running
What the top performers can do that others cannot
Ten of the ten brands here sell a membership. Filling a fixed building is the constraint, and the rent does not move when the week is quiet. Rostering against demand is the constraint.
What the customer is buying
The customer buys a plan they pay for monthly whether they show up or not. A location at the middle brand sells $698,258 a year, and the median top group sells $2,705,811. The offer is the same at both ends of that range, so the difference is volume. At three of them the top performers add to what they sell and keep the same building. Retail and higher service tiers raise what an hour earns without adding an hour.
Who the customer is, and how often they come back
This is a retention business. The money is made in the second year of a customer, not the first month, so the number that decides the year is how many stay. A median 42% of locations reach their own brand’s average, so most of the system is below the number the brand advertises, and the gap usually comes from low demand. Effort is usually not the cause. The top group sells $2,705,811 against $357,000 at the bottom. Trade area and site set that range before an owner takes a booking.
How the money works
Opening costs $155,388 to $5,386,000 across the group, and inside one brand the top of the range is typically 2.3 times the bottom. At the middle brand franchise fees take 8.5% of sales. The percentage changes little between them; the dollars change a lot. Cash and earned revenue arrive in different periods here, so the cash forecast matters more than the profit line in any given month.
Top performers
These are the things that separate top performers in gyms and clubs
Across the gyms and clubs brands that publish both figures, the median top group of locations sells $2,705,811 a year and the median bottom group sells $357,000. Across these brands, a median of 42% of locations reach their own brand’s average.
Decided before you open
- Opening cost against sales.The top group sells $2,705,811 a year against a build that tops out at $5,386,000, so at the heavy end of the range a location sells $0.50 for every dollar it cost to open.
- Rent as a share of sales.Occupancy runs 19.1% of sales at Crunch Fitness and 20.0% at Snap Fitness, the two brands that disclose it. Top-group locations put more sales through the same square footage, with longer earning hours, a second daypart, and a site picked for traffic.
Live operating levers
- Ten of the ten brands here sell a membership.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Monthly memberships
- Unit economics
- Members times monthly dues, less members lost
- Two of the ten brands here can widen what they sell without widening the building.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Retail or higher service tiers
- Unit economics
- Sales per room per hour
- Wages by brand.Wages run 26.0% of sales at Snap Fitness and 26.8% at Crunch Fitness, the two brands that disclose them. The levers are scheduling against booked demand hour by hour, sales per paid hour, and keeping part of pay variable. On the top group’s $2,705,811 of sales, a point of wages is $27,058 a year; on the bottom group’s $357,000 it is $3,570.
- Cost of goods by brand.Products and materials take 2.1% of sales at Crunch Fitness, the one brand that discloses them. The levers on this line are buying on the brand program, holding the price list instead of discounting to close, and counting waste weekly.
- Profit margin.Two brands publish a profit line, and they keep 22.5% to 34.1% of sales. The cost lines above move by a few points between the highest-selling and lowest-selling locations while sales move by multiples.
- Fees as a share of sales.Fees run a median 8.5% of sales across six brands, from 7.0% to 13.9%. Where a minimum applies, lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. At $2,705,811 the fees cost $229,994 a year; at $357,000 they cost $30,345.
Context you underwrite around
- First-year build-up.One of ten filings in this group shows how a new location builds up. The others do not show it.
- Brands without sales bands.Three brands publish only an average, with no sales bands.
Operating levers
What each brand’s top performers actually work on
These are the levers each brand's filing supports. Each brand has three to five, read from its own 2026 FDD. Filter by type of business, or open a brand for the figures underneath.
10 brands
Anytime Fitness
Gyms and clubs
- Membership drives the model. Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
Crunch Fitness
Gyms and clubs
- Wages. Wages take 26.8% of sales, against 34.1% kept at the end. The levers are staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission.
- Occupancy cost. Rent and building costs take 19.1% of sales here. The rent is fixed when the lease is signed, so this share falls only as sales per square foot rise.
- Membership drives the model. Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
- Service and retail mix. Retail sales and the share of customers on higher service tiers raise revenue per hour without adding hours or rooms.
- Fees. Fees run about 7.0% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
- Cash needed in the first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
Fitness Premier
Gyms and clubs
- Membership drives the model. Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
- Fees. Fees run about 13.9% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
Gold’s Gym
Gyms and clubs
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 7.0% 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.
- Membership drives the model. Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
My Gym
Gyms and clubs
- Membership drives the model. Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
- Fees and the minimum. A minimum fee applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Planet Fitness
Gyms and clubs
- Membership drives the model. Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
- Fees. Fees run about 9.0% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
Snap Fitness
Gyms and clubs
- Wages. Wages take 26.0% of sales. The levers are staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission.
- Occupancy cost. Rent and building costs take 20.0% of sales here. The rent is fixed when the lease is signed, so this share falls only as sales per square foot rise.
- Membership drives the model. Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
UFC GYM
Gyms and clubs
- Membership drives the model. Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
- Service and retail mix. Retail sales and the share of customers on higher service tiers raise revenue per hour without adding hours or rooms.
- Fees. Fees run about 10.7% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
Workout Anytime
Gyms and clubs
- Membership drives the model. Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
- Fees. Fees run about 8.0% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
World Gym
Gyms and clubs
- Membership drives the model. Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
Gyms and clubs cost lines as a share of sales
Two of the ten gyms and clubs brands in Averan Franchise disclose what their locations spend on wages, rent and space, or cost of goods. Each figure is a share of the average location's sales, from the brand's 2026 FDD. Rent and space covers rent and the other costs of the premises.
| Brand | Wages | Rent and space | Cost of goods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crunch Fitness | 26.8% | 19.1% | 2.1% |
| Snap Fitness | 26.0% | 20.0% | Not disclosed |
How fast new gyms and clubs locations build sales
The pages for two of the ten gyms and clubs brands in Averan Franchise show how a new location's sales build after opening, by month or by years open, in dollars from each brand's FDD. The months before sales cover costs are the ones to plan cash for, and the minimum fee calculator shows what the fees cost during them.
Common questions
How much does a gyms and clubs franchise cost to open?
Among the ten gyms and clubs brands in Averan Franchise that publish it, the cost to open runs from $155,388 at UFC GYM to $5,386,000 at Planet Fitness, according to their 2026 FDDs.
Which gyms and clubs franchise costs the least to open?
UFC GYM has the lowest starting cost of the gyms and clubs brands in Averan Franchise, at $155,388 to $573,738.
Which gyms and clubs franchise has the highest average sales?
UFC GYM reports the highest average sales of the gyms and clubs brands in Averan Franchise, at $3,971,640 in its 2026 FDD.
What do gyms and clubs franchise fees cost as a share of sales?
Across the six gyms and clubs brands where Averan Franchise works out the figure, franchise fees take 7% to 13.93% of sales.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- Money arrives before the service does. How should that be booked?It explains deferred revenue and why the bank balance and the profit line disagree.
- 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.
- 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.
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 →Where do your numbers sit against your brand's?
We review your unit economics, cash forecast and reporting, benchmarked against your own brand’s filed numbers.
Talk to AveranWhere these figures come from
Every figure here comes from the brands' 2026 FDDs and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brands. The medians, growth and customers lost figures are our own calculations. The figures describe past performance at other businesses. They are not a projection of your results. This page is an educational summary and is not an offer to sell a franchise or financial, legal or tax advice. All trademarks belong to their owners. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.