World Gym franchise unit economics
World Gym franchisees run a 7,500 to 25,000 square foot gym. The royalty takes zero percentage of sales: it is $1,250 a month, rising $50 at every anniversary, which is $177,000 across a ten-year term. Converting an existing gym costs $101,500 to $530,000 against $452,500 to $2,232,500 for a new build.
- Primary source
- World Gym International, 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 18 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 royalty here ignores revenue entirely. $1,250 a month, rising $50 at each anniversary, $177,000 across a ten-year term. That makes every dollar of membership growth yours, and it makes the fixed bill heaviest on the smallest gym: $2.00 a square foot at 7,500 feet against 60 cents at 25,000.
- The royalty is a fixed $1,250 a month that grows $50 a year. $15,000 in year one and $20,400 in year ten, $177,000 over the term *.
- A flat royalty costs the smallest gym $2.00 a square foot and the largest 60 cents. *, so the fixed fee rewards floor space more than any percentage structure would.
- Converting an existing gym costs about a quarter of a new build. $101,500 to $530,000 against $452,500 to $2,232,500 *, with the franchise fee halved to $12,500.
- Advertising obligations are currently zero. With reserved caps of $350 a month for the fund and 2% of sales for local spend. That is worth $24,200 a year at $1,000,000 of sales if both arrive *.
- US franchised gyms fell from 33 to 18 with zero openings in two years. A 45.5% decline *, driven by 11 non-renewals.
How much does a World Gym franchise make?
The 2026 FDD for World Gym does not publish unit revenue in a form that answers this directly. What it does publish is set out below, starting with Royalty: $1,250 a month, flat; Annual escalation: $50 a month; Royalty over ten years: $177,000; US franchised gyms, end 2025: 18.
Build or convert
An existing gym converts for a quarter of the price.
| Measure | New gym | Conversion |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $25,000 | $12,500 |
| Build-out and building work | $200,000 to $900,000 | $25,000 to $50,000 |
| Equipment | $90,000 to $850,000 | $0 to $300,000 |
| Pre-opening sales program | $30,000 to $60,000 | $15,000 to $25,000 |
| Total investment | $452,500 to $2,232,500 | $101,500 to $530,000 |
| Conversion as a share of a new build * | n/a | 22.4% to 23.7% |
Every figure is as the brand reported it and the share row divides the conversion totals by the new-build totals, marked *.
An operator already running a gym keeps their equipment and their lease. Which is why the conversion chart has zero lease deposits and zero utility deposits, and why the build-out line falls by $175,000 at the low end.
The conversion still pays the same royalty. $1,250 a month whatever the route in, so the cheaper entry buys the identical ongoing cost.
A three-gym development agreement costs $62,500. $25,000, $20,000 and $17,500 on a declining scale, with two gyms the minimum, and the development area is expressly non-exclusive.
The lowest initial fee collected in 2025 was zero. So the published $25,000 and $12,500 are starting points.
Veterans receive 15% off the applicable fee. On the first gym only, $3,750 on a new build and $1,875 on a conversion *.
Top performers
What separates the top World Gym performers
World Gym 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 7,500 to 25,000 square feet. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $452,500 to $2,232,500, a 4.9× 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.
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.
A fixed bill that grows
Revenue plays zero part in franchise fees. (Items 5 and 6)
| Charge | Rate | Year one * | Year ten * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | $1,250 a month, plus $50 each anniversary | $15,000 | $20,400 |
| Technology | $165 a month | $1,980 | $1,980 |
| Payment processing and point of sale | $249 a month | $2,988 | $2,988 |
| Total | n/a | $19,968 | $25,368 |
| Brand development fund | Currently zero, capped at $350 a month | $0 | $0 |
| Local advertising | Currently zero, capped at 2% of sales | $0 | $0 |
The rates and caps are as the brand reported it and the annual figures multiply the monthly charges by twelve at the year-one and year-ten royalty levels, marked *.
A gym billing $2,000,000 pays the same royalty as one billing $400,000. $15,000 in the first year, which is 0.75% of the first and 3.75% of the second *.
The escalation adds $5,400 a year by the end of the term. *, a 36% increase on the starting royalty, fixed in the agreement.
Both advertising obligations sit at zero today. With the right reserved to introduce them on 30 days&rsquo. Notice, capped at $350 a month and 2% of sales. That at $1,000,000 of sales would be $24,200 a year *.
An audit is triggered at a 2% understatement. Unusually tight, and notable in a system where the royalty takes zero account of the figure being reported.
Transfers cost $5,000 and renewal $2,500. Among the lightest event fees in this library, on a business that can have a $2,232,500 build.
The square foot
The bigger the box, the cheaper the brand.
| Measure | Small gym, 7,500 sq ft | Large gym, 25,000 sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty a square foot, year one * | $2.00 | $0.60 |
| Build-out and building work | $200,000 | $900,000 |
| Build-out a square foot * | $26.67 | $36.00 |
| Fitness equipment | $90,000 | $850,000 |
| Equipment a square foot * | $12.00 | $34.00 |
The sizes and dollar ranges are as the brand reported it and the per-square-foot figures divide one by the other, marked *.
The large gym pays 30% of the small gym’s royalty for each square foot. *, the clearest argument in this model for taking the bigger unit.
Equipment costs nearly three times as much a foot at the top of the range. $34.00 against $12.00 *, because the low figure assumes a 20% deposit on leased or financed equipment.
Build-out runs $26.67 to $36.00 a square foot. *, a far narrower range than the equipment line, so the box itself is the predictable part.
Additional funds cover only the first 90 days at $45,000 to $150,000. On a build reaching $2,232,500, so the build-up assumption is worth testing hard.
The pre-opening sales program costs $30,000 to $60,000. More than twice the franchise fee at the high end, membership sold before the doors open is what funds the first quarter.
Territory and the system
Eighteen US gyms, and two years without an opening.
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Ceased, other | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 33 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 24 |
| 2024 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| 2025 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| Three years | n/a | 2 | 2 | 11 | 4 | n/a |
Every figure is as the brand reported it for US outlets, with zero company-owned gyms in any of the three years.
Eleven of the 17 exits were non-renewals. Owners reaching the end of a term and leaving, against just two terminations across three years.
The pace of decline slowed from nine to two. *, so the contraction is easing even with zero openings.
The territory is defined only once the premises is secured. By population, radius, zip codes, streets or a map, with the size varying by location and demographics. So the size varies from one franchisee to the next.
Territorial rights have zero sales requirement. The brand keeps another gym out while you comply, and that protection holds regardless of your volume or penetration.
Online and streaming channels stay with the brand. Along with catalog, telemarketing and direct marketing, inside your territory and outside it, so digital membership is the brand’s to sell.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks.
What does the brand take?
A flat $1,250 a month, rising $50 at each anniversary of the agreement. There is zero percentage of sales. Add $165 a month of technology and $249 a month for payment processing and point of sale, both fixed.
What does that add up to?
On our reading, $19,968 in the first year and $25,368 in the tenth, with the royalty alone coming to $177,000 across a ten-year term.
Why does a flat royalty matter?
Because growth is free. A gym billing $2,000,000 pays the same $15,000 first-year royalty as one billing $400,000, 0.75% against 3.75% on our reading. It also means the fixed bill is heaviest on the smallest gym: $2.00 a square foot at 7,500 feet against 60 cents at 25,000.
Is there an advertising obligation?
Currently zero on both counts. The brand reserves the right to require a fund contribution capped at $350 a month and a local advertising spend capped at 2% of monthly gross sales, each on 30 days' notice. At $1,000,000 of sales both together would be $24,200 a year on our reading.
What does it cost to open?
$452,500 to $2,232,500 for a new gym of 7,500 to 25,000 square feet. Converting an existing gym runs $101,500 to $530,000, about 22% to 24% of a new build on our reading, with the franchise fee halved to $12,500.
Is the fee negotiable?
The lowest initial franchise fee collected during 2025 was $0, so yes in practice. Veterans receive 15% off the applicable fee on their first gym.
What is the system doing?
Contracting. US franchised gyms went from 33 at the start of 2023 to 18 at the end of 2025. Two openings across the three years and zero in the last two. Eleven of the 17 exits were non-renewals.
Which two numbers should run monthly?
Revenue a square foot, because the brand charges by the month, and members against capacity, because every additional membership has zero royalty.
- 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 World Gym
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?
- What do the fees add up to as a share of sales at the average location, once minimums and technology charges are counted?
- How many World Gym 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 →What is a square foot earning?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around a royalty that ignores your sales, a $5,400 escalation over the term. A build that ranges from $452,500 to $2,232,500.
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
World Gym reads against the rest of the gyms and clubs group: Anytime Fitness · Crunch Fitness · Fitness Premier · Planet Fitness · Snap Fitness · The Little Gym. The gyms and clubs 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.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?What a financial performance representation does and does not tell you.
- What should I be looking at every week?The handful of numbers that move before the P&L does.