Launch franchise unit economics
Launch franchisees run family entertainment centers built around trampolines, attractions, arcade and food. The 14 parks under continuous ownership through 2025 had a median sales of $2,080,000, with a top quartile at $3,565,993 and a bottom at $1,210,987. Across the ten that filed accounts, six cost lines add to exactly 78% of revenue and profit to 22%.
- Primary source
- Launch Family Entertainment, 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
- 14 of 28 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.
Six cost lines add to exactly 78% of revenue and profit to 22%, the stack closes at 100. The median park bills $2,080,000, so that 22% is $457,600 before debt service and owner pay. The lines that move are labor, at 18% to 35%, and occupancy cost, at 5% to 24%.
- The published cost stack closes at exactly 100%. 17% cost of goods, 26% labor, 17% occupancy cost, 6% insurance, 3% marketing and 9% other, adding to 78%, against a reported 22% of profit *.
- Labor is the largest line at 26% and moves by 17 points. 18% to 35% across the ten parks that filed accounts, which is $353,600 of range at the median park *, more than three quarters of the profit line.
- Building costs moves by 19 points, more than any other line. 5% to 24% of revenue, or $395,200 at the median park *, so the lease decides more here than the trading does.
- The 17% cost of goods has the 8% of franchise fees. Royalty and brand fund sit inside that line, leaving roughly 9 points for food, beverage, arcade redemption and merchandise *.
- The build is 1.51 to 3.00 times the median park’s revenue. $3,141,548 to $6,232,089 against $2,080,000 *, so at 22% profit the payback runs 6.87 to 13.62 years.
How much does a Launch franchise make?
The median Launch unit reported $2,080,000 of revenue in the 2026 FDD. The brand’s disclosure document puts the profit line at 22% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 11% 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.
Sales
A median park at $2,080,000.
Fourteen parks traded the whole of 2025 under one continuous owner, read as a top quartile, a bottom quartile and a median. The single highest and lowest parks at the edges.
| Measure | Parks | Sales | Against the median * | At 22% profit * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest park | 1 | $4,040,585 | 194.3% | $888,929 |
| Top quartile average | 3 | $3,565,993 | 171.4% | $784,518 |
| Median of the reporting parks | 14 | $2,080,000 | 100% | $457,600 |
| Bottom quartile average | 3 | $1,210,987 | 58.2% | $266,417 |
| Lowest park | 1 | $986,545 | 47.4% | $217,040 |
The revenue figures and park counts are as the brand reported it. The comparison and the profit column are marked *, applying the filed average profit of 22% of revenue to each line. Is a scale instead of a forecast because the profit figure comes from a smaller group of ten parks.
The top quartile bills 2.94 times the bottom. $3,565,993 against $1,210,987 *, and the individual extremes run 4.10 times apart.
The gap between the quartiles is $2,355,006 of revenue. Worth $518,101 of profit at the filed 22% *, which is more than the bottom quartile earns in total twice over.
Top performers
What separates the top Launch performers
Launch splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $3,565,993 a year. The worst averaged $1,210,987. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 2.9× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building. Two owners with the same brand and different ground are running different businesses, and density decides how much driving sits between jobs.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $3,141,548 to $6,232,089, a 2.0× 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.
- Lease economics.Occupancy cost ran 17.0% of sales in this filing. The rent does not fall when sales do, so the same lease is a far heavier line at the bottom of the system than at the top. That is how a weak site compounds into a weak profit line.
Live operating levers
- Wages, the dominant line.Wages take 26.0% of sales, against 22.0% kept at the end. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex.Rent and building costs take 17.0% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Admissions, the operating driver.This model bills on admissions. The doors are open whether anyone comes or not, so the owner works on how many come through in an open hour and what each spends beyond the ticket. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- The gift card book.Gift cards are sold before the service is delivered. The top performers are not selling more of them by accident, they are running a deliberate seasonal push into the holidays and out of it again. The accounting follows: a gift card is deferred revenue until it is redeemed, so cash and earned revenue arrive in different periods.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 11.0% 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
- The reporting screen.14 of 28 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, so the numbers describe locations that cleared that screen, not the system as a whole.
Where the money goes
Six lines, 78%, and what is left.
| Line | Average | Lowest | Highest | Spread in points * | At the $2,080,000 median * | The spread in dollars * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 26% | 18% | 35% | 17 | $540,800 | $353,600 |
| Cost of goods sold | 17% | 14% | 23% | 9 | $353,600 | $187,200 |
| Building costs | 17% | 5% | 24% | 19 | $353,600 | $395,200 |
| Other operating expenses | 9% | 5% | 12% | 7 | $187,200 | $145,600 |
| Insurance | 6% | 2% | 10% | 8 | $124,800 | $166,400 |
| Marketing and advertising | 3% | 1% | 7% | 6 | $62,400 | $124,800 |
| Total cost | 78% | n/a | n/a | n/a | $1,622,400 | n/a |
| profit | 22% | 10% | 28% | 18 | $457,600 | $374,400 |
The percentages are as the brand reported it and everything else is marked *.
Labor and occupancy cost together average 43% of revenue. $894,400 at the median park *, and between them they take 36 points of range, against a profit line of 22.
The 17% cost of goods has about 8 points of brand charge. A 6% royalty and a 2% brand fund sit inside it *, leaving roughly 9 points for the food, drink, arcade redemption and merchandise actually sold.
Building costs is the widest line and the one fixed at signing. 5% to 24% of revenue *, a $395,200 range at the median park, and the only one of the six a franchisee sets once.
profit itself runs 10% to 28%. $208,000 to $582,400 at the median park *, with a median of 23%, so half the reporting parks sit above the average.
What the fees come to
6% plus 2%, and up to 5% more to spend.
The royalty is 6% of total sales, the brand development fund 2%, both weekly by direct debit. Local advertising is a requirement of up to 5%, which the reporting parks met at 3%.
| Group | Sales | Royalty at 6% | Brand fund at 2% | To the brand | Local marketing at the filed 3% | All in | Share of revenue * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $4,040,585, the highest park | $4,040,585 | $242,435 | $80,812 | $323,247 | $121,218 | $444,465 | 11.00% |
| Top quartile | $3,565,993 | $213,960 | $71,320 | $285,280 | $106,980 | $392,260 | 11.00% |
| The median park | $2,080,000 | $124,800 | $41,600 | $166,400 | $62,400 | $228,800 | 11.00% |
| Bottom quartile | $1,210,987 | $72,659 | $24,220 | $96,879 | $36,330 | $133,209 | 11.00% |
| $986,545, the lowest park | $986,545 | $59,193 | $19,731 | $78,924 | $29,596 | $108,520 | 11.00% |
The 6% royalty, the 2% brand development fund, the up-to-5% local advertising requirement and the revenue figures are as the brand reported it. The local marketing column uses the 3% the reporting parks actually spent instead of the 5% ceiling. Every dollar amount is marked *.
Franchise fees take $166,400 from the median park. 8% of $2,080,000 *, which is 36.4% of the $457,600 that park earns at the filed share of sales kept.
Two more points of local advertising are available to be required. The gap between the 3% spent and the 5% ceiling is $41,600 a year at the median park *, and $80,812 at the largest.
Building the park
$3,141,548 to open, and 70% of it is the box and the attractions.
| Line | Low | High | Share of the low column * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building work | $1,500,000 | $2,443,274 | 47.75% |
| Attraction costs | $700,000 | $1,495,385 | 22.28% |
| Start-up equipment, furnishings and fixtures | $400,541 | $821,370 | 12.75% |
| Additional funds | $75,000 | $225,000 | 2.39% |
| Initial franchise fee | $75,000 | $75,000 | 2.39% |
| Construction drawings and documents | $71,000 | $80,000 | 2.26% |
| Rent, three months, and interest reserves | $55,000 | $295,052 | 1.75% |
| Security deposits | $50,000 | $110,000 | 1.59% |
| Build-up-up advertising | $50,000 | $60,000 | 1.59% |
| Initial inventory | $46,000 | $65,000 | 1.46% |
| Point-of-sale system and computers | $39,500 | $65,000 | 1.26% |
| Signage | $28,378 | $64,265 | 0.90% |
| Insurance | $22,277 | $48,373 | 0.71% |
| Travel and lodging during training | $10,000 | $10,000 | 0.32% |
| Licenses and permits including liquor | $8,752 | $63,970 | 0.28% |
| Site survey and due diligence | $5,000 | $10,000 | 0.16% |
| Professional fees | $5,000 | $15,000 | 0.16% |
| Technology fee | $100 | $400 | 0.00% |
| Additional equipment or attractions | $0 | $110,000 | 0.00% |
| Loan closing costs | $0 | $175,000 | 0.00% |
| Total | $3,141,548 | $6,232,089 | 100% |
Amounts are as the brand reported it and the share column is marked *; both columns add to their stated totals to the dollar.
Opening costs 1.51 times what a median park bills in a year. $3,141,548 against $2,080,000 *, rising to 3.00 times at the high end.
At 22% profit the payback runs 6.87 to 13.62 years. $457,600 a year against $3,141,548 and $6,232,089 *, before debt service, which the loan-closing line implies most owners have.
The build, the attractions and the fit-out are 82.78% of the entry cost. $2,600,541 of the $3,141,548 low column *, everything else together is $541,007.
Twenty-eight parks, thirty-five agreements waiting.
| Year | Franchised at start | Opened | Ceased for other reasons | Franchised at end | Affiliate-owned | Total | Franchised share * | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 20 | n/a | n/a | 21 | 6 | 27 | 77.8% | 0 |
| 2024 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 26 | 92.3% | 2 |
| 2025 | 24 | 6 | 2 | 28 | 1 | 29 | 96.6% | 2 |
Outlet counts are as the brand reported it and the franchised share is marked *.
The signed pipeline is larger than the trading system. 35 agreements against 28 parks *, with 9 projected to open in the coming year.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What does a Launch park bill?
The median of the fourteen reporting parks was $2,080,000 in 2025. The three highest averaged $3,565,993 and the three lowest $1,210,987, with individual parks running from $986,545 to $4,040,585. Seven of the fourteen sat at or above the median.
What does a park keep?
profit averaged 22% of revenue across the ten parks that filed accounts, with a median of 23% and a range of 10% to 28%. At the median park’s revenue that average is $457,600, before debt service, depreciation, amortization and owner compensation.
Where does the money go?
Labor 26% of revenue, cost of goods 17%, occupancy cost 17%, other operating expenses 9%, insurance 6% and marketing 3%, 78% in total. Cost of goods includes the royalty and brand fund as well as food, beverage, arcade redemption and merchandise.
Which cost line matters most?
Labor is the largest at 26% and runs from 18% to 35%. Building costs spans the widest range at 5% to 24%, and it is the one line fixed when the lease is signed. At the median park those two ranges are worth $353,600 and $395,200.
What does the brand take?
A 6% royalty and a 2% brand development fund, both weekly by direct debit, so 8% of total sales. Local advertising is a requirement of up to 5%, which the reporting parks met at 3%. Technology is $100 an user a month. At the median park the brand’s 8% is $166,400 a year.
What does it cost to open?
$3,141,548 to $6,232,089 for a Family Entertainment Center, of which $1,500,000 to $2,443,274 is building work and $700,000 to $1,495,385 is attractions. The franchise fee is $75,000 and stays $75,000 for later parks. A three-park development agreement totals $9,426,644 to $18,698,767.
Questions worth putting to Launch
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- Is the profit figure in Item 19 before or after owner pay, and how many locations sit below it?
- What separates the highest-selling locations from the lowest: trade area, years open, size, or the owner?
- 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 Launch 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 →Where does your park sit in the 78%?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around labor against the 26% benchmark, occupancy cost against 17%, and profit against 22%.
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
Launch reads against the rest of the trampoline and adventure parks group: Altitude Trampoline Park · Big Air Trampoline Park · Sky Zone · Slick City · Urban Air.
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?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?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.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?Location-level contribution, and what it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?What a financial performance representation does and does not tell you.