Best Sports Franchise Brands in 2026: Youth Training, Fitness, and Sports Retail

The phrase sports franchise gets used two very different ways, and the search results split right down that line: about half the audience is asking what the Dallas Cowboys are worth, and the other half wants to know which sports franchise concept to actually buy and operate. This guide focuses on the second group, the operators and investors evaluating youth training, boutique fitness, swim school, and sports retail brands that show up in IFA growth reports and Franchise Disclosure Documents (IFA Franchising Economic Outlook). We address pro team valuations briefly, then spend the bulk of the article on real Item 7 investment ranges, royalty stacks, average unit volumes, and the private equity ownership map sitting behind most of the top brands available to buy today.

CT Acquisitions advises buyers, sellers, and multi-unit operators in franchised consumer services, fitness, and youth enrichment. The numbers below are drawn from current FDDs, franchisor disclosures, and reporting from Franchise Business Review, Franchise Times, Entrepreneur, Sportico, and Forbes. Every named brand, fee, and range is sourced inline so you can verify and compare apples to apples.

Sports Franchise: The Two Meanings (Pro Team Ownership vs Business Franchise)

When someone types sports franchise into Google, they are usually asking one of two questions. The first is about pro team ownership: what is the Cowboys franchise worth, who bought the Boston Celtics, what does an MLS expansion fee cost. That is a closed club. The 124 teams across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS rarely trade, and when they do, the buyer is a billionaire or a consortium led by one. Sportico pegs the average NFL team at $7.13 billion and the Cowboys at the top of the league at roughly $12.8 billion.

The second meaning of sports franchise is the one this guide is built for: a franchised business operating in sports, fitness, swim, or sports retail under a national brand. These are the concepts listed in the SBA Franchise Directory and the International Franchise Association directory. A typical youth coaching franchise costs $40,000 to $120,000 all-in. A typical boutique fitness studio costs $300,000 to $1.4 million. A sports retail resale store like Play It Again Sports is in the $343,000 to $457,000 band. We walk through every tier below.

The two worlds do touch. The same private equity firms that own NBA minority stakes also own large slices of franchised fitness, and the methodology Sportico uses to value pro teams (a multiple of revenue with control premiums) is a distant cousin of how franchisee networks get bought and sold. We come back to that in the pro sports brief later in the guide.

Business Sports Franchise: The Three Categories

Operator-facing opportunities in this space fall into three buckets that behave very differently financially:

• Youth sports training and coaching. Low capital, high coaching intensity, mobile or small-box, parent-funded recurring tuition. Soccer Shots, Skyhawks, TGA Premier Sports, i9 Sports, Lil’ Kickers, Amazing Athletes, and the swim school brands (Big Blue, Aqua-Tots, British Swim School) live here.
• Fitness and boutique fitness. The biggest category by unit count and capital deployed. Anytime Fitness, Planet Fitness, Crunch, Orangetheory, F45, 9Round, Burn Boot Camp on the workout side. Pure Barre, StretchLab, CycleBar, Club Pilates, YogaSix on the boutique side.
• Sports retail and sports-themed services. Play It Again Sports, Fleet Feet, Pro Image Sports, and adjacent sports-themed concepts including Sport Clips, the haircut chain that built its identity around sports broadcasts on every TV.

Each of these categories has its own real estate footprint, royalty stack, and EBITDA profile. We break them down brand by brand in the next four sections.

Best Youth Sports Training Franchises (D1, TGA, Soccer Shots, Skyhawks)

Youth sports is the fastest-growing slice of the franchise universe. The IFA 2026 Franchising Economic Outlook flags child-related concepts (childcare, education, youth fitness, tutoring, enrichment) at 3.2 percent unit growth in 2026, the fastest category in the report alongside commercial and residential services. Parents spend an estimated $40 billion a year on youth sports per the Aspen Institute Project Play data, and that spend has climbed about 46 percent since 2019.

D1 Training

D1 Training was founded in 2001 by former NFL fullback Will Bartholomew and now operates 160-plus locations with another 100-plus in development. The brand offers four age-tiered programs (Rookie 7-11, Developmental 12-14, Prep 15-18, and D1 Adult) inside a small-box training facility. Franchise Payback lists D1 Training initial investment in the $493,000 to $1.18 million range with a $50,000 franchise fee and a 7 percent royalty. D1 reports average unit volumes north of $700,000 in mature units, which is high for the youth tier and reflects the small-box facility cost.

TGA Premier Sports

TGA Premier Sports runs after-school and camp programming in golf, tennis, cheerleading, and pickleball delivered at partner schools and parks. Franchise Business Review lists TGA Premier Sports initial investment at $77,550 to $116,000 with a low fixed-asset footprint because the franchisee uses existing school facilities. Royalty is 8 percent of gross. TGA suits a coach-operator who wants a community-rooted brand without a real estate lease.

Soccer Shots

Soccer Shots focuses on ages 2 to 8 and has built a reputation for franchisee satisfaction. The brand operates more than 200 territories. According to FDD Item 7 disclosures aggregated by VettedBiz, Soccer Shots initial investment runs $42,950 to $54,300 with a $36,500 franchise fee and a 7 to 9 percent sliding royalty. Franchise Direct reports average franchise owner income above $90,000 for established Soccer Shots units. This is one of the lowest-capital entry points with a real national brand behind it.

Skyhawks Sports Academy

Skyhawks, now packaged with Supertots Academy and owned by Youth Enrichment Brands (which also owns i9 Sports, Soccer Shots in some markets, SafeSplash, and School of Rock), is the multi-sport youth franchise covering soccer, basketball, flag football, baseball, lacrosse, and broader camp programming. VettedBiz lists Skyhawks initial investment at $57,800 to $89,750 with a $42,500 franchise fee and a 9 percent royalty. The model is camp and clinic heavy, low fixed cost, seasonal revenue.

i9 Sports

i9 Sports runs recreational youth leagues rather than training, with 1,000-plus communities served. Per Franchise Business Review, i9 Sports investment is $36,500 to $60,000, home-based, with very high franchisee satisfaction (95 percent felt supported in the most recent FBR survey).

Amazing Athletes and Lil’ Kickers

Amazing Athletes ($75,000 to $108,500, mobile, ages 2 to 6) and Lil’ Kickers ($24,450 to $64,435, soccer-focused) round out the entry-level tier. Both are good answers for a coach-operator who wants a low-capital sports franchise tied to a national curriculum.

Goalie Stick Hockey and Niche Sport Concepts

Beyond the broad-multisport brands, several niche concepts deserve a look from buyers with a specific athletic background. Goalie Stick Hockey runs goaltender-specific training clinics, an underserved niche with strong unit economics in cold-weather markets. Hi-Five Sports Clubs runs after-school multi-sport clubs with a school-partnership model similar to Skyhawks but with longer-form seasonal enrollment. Drumbeats among coach-operators with deep sport expertise often favor a niche concept over a generalist one because the per-athlete margin is higher and competitive moat against local independents is wider.

Per Franchise Business Review’s 2026 Top 200, youth coaching concepts as a group post some of the highest franchisee satisfaction scores in any category surveyed, with average satisfaction above 80 percent for the leading brands. This matters because satisfaction tends to lead unit-economics disclosures by two to three years in the FDD pipeline: brands with consistently happy operators eventually post stronger Item 19 disclosures as the system matures.

Best Swim School Sports Franchises (Big Blue, Aqua-Tots, British Swim School)

Swim schools sit at the intersection of youth sports and the wellness category. They are recurring tuition businesses with high parent-funded retention because most kids stay enrolled for years. Goldfish Swim School, the largest brand, reports average unit volumes near $1.7 million per Franchise Payback, with initial investment crossing $2 million for a purpose-built pool facility.

Big Blue Swim School

Big Blue Swim School was acquired by L Catterton in 2019 and runs a flagship-pool model with proprietary swim curriculum. Franchise Payback reports Big Blue Swim School initial investment at $2.4 million to $4.1 million with a $50,000 franchise fee and 8 percent royalty. Average unit volume is reported in the $1.4 million to $1.8 million range for ramped units. This is one of the highest-capital plays in the franchise universe and is structured for multi-unit operators and PE-backed development groups.

Aqua-Tots Swim Schools

Aqua-Tots operates more than 175 locations and was acquired by Leonard Green & Partners in 2021. Per Franchise Payback, Aqua-Tots initial investment is $1.1 million to $3.3 million with a $60,000 franchise fee and 7 percent royalty. The brand offers a year-round indoor swim model with families enrolling 12 months a year.

British Swim School

British Swim School is the low-capital answer in swim. The brand uses partner pools (hotels, apartment complexes, community centers) rather than building its own facilities, which drops the all-in cost dramatically. Franchise Direct lists British Swim School initial investment at $116,500 to $186,250 with a $40,000 franchise fee. British Swim School is owned by Buzz Franchise Brands, which also owns Mosquito Joe and Pool Scouts.

Goldfish Swim School

Though not included in the brief’s named list, Goldfish Swim School deserves mention because it tops the swim category in unit-level revenue. Per Franchise Payback, Goldfish reports average unit volume near $1.7 million with initial investment in the $1.6 million to $3.5 million range. Goldfish is owned by Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. The buyer profile for Goldfish overlaps heavily with Big Blue and Aqua-Tots: multi-unit developers with prior fitness or pediatric services experience.

SafeSplash Swim School

SafeSplash is part of the Youth Enrichment Brands portfolio (alongside i9 Sports, Skyhawks, Soccer Shots in many territories, and School of Rock). The brand uses both partner pools and dedicated facilities depending on market, which lets operators enter at $400,000 to $800,000 in some configurations rather than the $1.5M-plus floor of purpose-built brands. For buyers considering a swim concept as their first franchise acquisition, SafeSplash offers a middle-ground capital profile worth evaluating against British Swim School and Aqua-Tots.

Best Fitness Franchise Brands (Anytime Fitness, Orangetheory, F45)

Fitness is the largest category by capital deployed and the one with the most private equity activity. The three brands below are the workhorses every prospective buyer compares against.

Anytime Fitness

Anytime Fitness is owned by Self Esteem Brands (now operating as Purpose Brands after the 2024 merger with Orangetheory), which also operates Waxing the City and The Bar Method. Anytime Fitness has over 4,500 locations globally and is consistently ranked at or near the top of Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500. Per the Anytime Fitness 2026 FDD as aggregated by FranchiseVS, initial investment runs $539,000 to $905,000 with a $42,500 franchise fee. Royalty is a flat dollar amount that scales with location ($699 per month standard in the most recent FDD), which is unusual in the fitness category and franchisee-friendly compared to the percentage models. Reported average unit revenue is around $399,000.

Orangetheory Fitness

Orangetheory is the heart-rate-zone HIIT studio with about 1,500 locations. Owned by Roark Capital via Self Esteem Brands / Purpose Brands after the 2024 combination. Per Franchise Payback, Orangetheory initial investment runs $822,292 to $1.4 million with a $59,950 franchise fee and an 8 percent royalty. 1851 Franchise reports average unit volume in the $1.0 million to $1.4 million range for mature studios. Orangetheory is one of the few concepts in this category where unit-level EBITDA at maturity routinely supports a 7-10x exit multiple in the secondary market.

F45 Training

F45 Training (functional 45-minute group training, Australian origin) had a turbulent post-IPO few years and was taken private in 2024. Per Franchise Business Review, F45 initial investment runs $349,200 to $786,100 with a $60,000 franchise fee and a 7 percent royalty or $2,500 monthly minimum, whichever is higher. F45 is a cautionary tale for any prospective franchisee about pace of expansion and unit-level economics: average unit volume reported in recent disclosures is materially lower than the company’s growth-era guidance.

Crunch Fitness

Crunch Fitness is the higher-volume gym answer, with most units doing $1.5 million to $3 million in revenue at maturity per Franchise Payback. Initial investment $510,000 to $2.7 million depending on box size, $25,000 to $40,000 franchise fee, 5 percent royalty. Crunch is owned by TSG Consumer Partners.

Planet Fitness

Planet Fitness operates more than 2,600 units. The brand is publicly traded (NYSE: PLNT). New franchise development is now largely limited to existing multi-unit area developers who control territory rights. For most first-time buyers, Planet Fitness is harder to enter than the model implies because territory is locked up. Where it is available, initial investment runs $1.5 million to $5 million per Franchimp, with a 7 percent royalty.

9Round

9Round is the lower-capital kickboxing answer. Initial investment $115,000 to $222,000, $24,000 franchise fee, 7 percent royalty per Franchise Direct. The brand has about 600 locations. Best for an owner-operator who wants a small-box concept without the boutique fitness capex.

The Fitness Multi-Unit Roll-Up Playbook

Most successful operators in the fitness tier do not buy one unit and stop. The economic model rewards scale: shared general manager, shared bookkeeping, shared regional marketing, and the ability to spread one corporate hire across 4-8 studios. Roark Capital’s Purpose Brands platform, L Catterton’s Big Blue, and Leonard Green’s Aqua-Tots all push area developer (AD) and area representative (AR) structures that give a single operator rights to develop 5-25 units in a defined geography. AD agreements typically require a higher upfront commitment (often $250,000 to $1 million in development fees) in exchange for territory exclusivity and a piece of the royalty stream from other franchisees within the territory.

For a buyer evaluating an AD agreement against single-unit ownership, the math turns on two questions. First, is the underlying brand still in unit-growth mode in your geography? Second, do you have the operating bandwidth (or the capital to hire it) to manage a development pipeline alongside the day-to-day operations of your first studios? CT Acquisitions models these tradeoffs against alternative deployments of the same capital, including non-franchised acquisitions covered in our explainer on business acquisitions.

Best Boutique Fitness Concepts (Pure Barre, CycleBar, Stretch Lab, Burn Boot Camp)

The boutique fitness slice was dominated for years by Xponential Fitness (NYSE: XPOF). As of 2026, Xponential narrowed its portfolio to five core brands: Club Pilates, StretchLab, Pure Barre, YogaSix, and BFT. CycleBar, Rumble, AKT, Row House, Stride, and Lindywell were divested or wound down in 2024-2025 per Xponential investor disclosures.

Club Pilates

Club Pilates is the largest brand in the Xponential portfolio and the largest franchised Pilates concept in the United States with more than 1,100 units. Per Franchise Payback, Club Pilates initial investment runs $191,000 to $359,000, $60,000 franchise fee, 7 percent royalty plus 2 percent brand fund. Club Pilates is the most active multi-unit development concept in the entire boutique fitness universe right now.

Pure Barre

Pure Barre runs more than 600 studios. Per Franchise Payback, Pure Barre initial investment is $233,000 to $501,000, $60,000 franchise fee, 7 percent royalty plus 2 percent brand fund.

StretchLab

StretchLab is one-on-one and group assisted stretching, the fastest-growing concept inside Xponential. Per Franchise Payback, StretchLab initial investment runs $200,000 to $400,000, $60,000 franchise fee, 7 percent royalty plus 2 percent brand fund.

CycleBar

CycleBar was divested from Xponential in 2025 and is now operated by a separate ownership group. Initial investment historically ran $343,000 to $625,000 per the most recent CycleBar FDD. Buyers evaluating CycleBar today should pay extra attention to franchisor stability post-spinout.

Burn Boot Camp

Burn Boot Camp is the women-focused outdoor and indoor boot camp concept with more than 350 units. Owned by North Castle Partners via a 2021 investment. Per Franchise Direct, Burn Boot Camp initial investment is $185,000 to $400,000, $50,000 franchise fee, 6 percent royalty plus 2 percent national ad. This is one of the highest-satisfaction concepts in the boutique sports franchise tier per Franchise Business Review Top 200.

The Stretch and Wellness Adjacency

StretchLab, Stretch Zone, and Massage LuXe are converging the boutique fitness category with wellness. For a buyer who wants recurring-membership economics without the operational intensity of group fitness coaching, the stretch concepts are worth direct comparison.

Best Sports Retail Franchises (Play It Again Sports, Sport Clips)

Sports retail is the smallest tier by unit count but the most stable in terms of unit economics because revenue is product-driven rather than coaching-hour-driven.

Play It Again Sports

Play It Again Sports is the resale model for new and used sporting goods, owned by Winmark Corporation (NASDAQ: WINA), which also operates Once Upon A Child, Plato’s Closet, and Style Encore. Per Winmark Franchises, Play It Again Sports initial investment runs $343,000 to $457,000 with a $25,000 franchise fee, 5 percent royalty, and a 5-7 percent marketing contribution. Average unit volume is approximately $992,000 per Franchise Payback’s 2026 sports rankings. The brand operates 302 franchised stores.

Fleet Feet

Fleet Feet is the running specialty retailer with strong community programming. Per Franchise Payback, Fleet Feet initial investment is $229,000 to $545,000, $45,000 franchise fee, with average unit volume around $1.62 million.

Pro Image Sports

Pro Image Sports is the licensed sports apparel and merchandise concept with 154 units. Initial investment $110,000 to $615,000, $30,000 franchise fee, average unit volume $814,000 per Franchise Payback.

Sport Clips

Sport Clips is a sports-themed haircut franchise rather than a sports business per se, but it routinely shows up in related searches and is a top-tier successful franchised concepts of any kind. Per Franchise Direct, Sport Clips initial investment is $266,300 to $439,500, $69,500 franchise fee, 6 percent royalty plus 6 percent brand fund. The brand has more than 1,800 stores and a deep multi-unit owner base.

YogaSix and Club Pilates as Anchor Tenants

One under-discussed angle for boutique fitness buyers is the anchor-tenant relationship landlords now have with the leading boutique brands. Club Pilates and YogaSix have proven foot-traffic generators for adjacent retailers (athleisure, juice bars, medspa, dentistry), and many lifestyle centers now offer tenant improvement allowances of $30-$60 per square foot to attract them. This is a real economic input for any operator running a build cost model: a $300,000 TI allowance on a $400,000 buildout drops the operator’s all-in cash requirement from the high end of the FDD Item 7 range toward the low end.

Initial Investment Comparison Across All Sports Franchise Tiers

Here is a side-by-side of the concepts above sorted by initial investment band. All figures are pulled from current FDD Item 7 disclosures or franchisor-published investment pages.

Three patterns jump out. First, the youth coaching tier is the cheapest entry into a real national brand, with several concepts available under $100,000 all-in. Second, the boutique fitness tier clusters tightly in the $200,000 to $500,000 range with similar royalty stacks. Third, swim school is the bimodal category, where you either go mobile (British Swim School) for under $200,000 or you build a pool facility (Big Blue, Goldfish, Aqua-Tots) for $1.5 million plus.

Royalty Structures and Brand Fund Math

Royalty looks small on paper and large in practice. A 7 percent royalty plus a 2 percent brand fund (the standard Xponential structure) is 9 percent of gross revenue going to the franchisor before the operator pays any rent, coaches, or insurance. On a $750,000 boutique fitness studio that is $67,500 per year, every year.

Three royalty patterns matter for a prospective franchisee in this space:

1. Percent of gross. Standard in fitness and most youth concepts. Range 5-9 percent. Add the brand fund (1-3 percent) on top.
2. Flat dollar. Anytime Fitness uses a fixed $699 per month per location. This favors the operator at higher revenue tiers but is a heavier burden in the ramp years.
3. Sliding scale. Some youth concepts (Soccer Shots, Lil’ Kickers) reduce royalty as territory revenue scales, rewarding operators who grow.

The brand fund is not optional. It funds national advertising, technology platforms, and franchisor staff overhead. A 2 percent brand fund on a 1,000-unit system at $750,000 average unit volume produces $15 million a year for franchisor-controlled marketing. That sounds like a lot, and it is, but it also explains why the larger franchise systems out-market the independents at every funnel stage.

Per-Member or Per-Athlete Revenue Economics

Underneath every concept in this universe sits a per-customer revenue figure that drives the whole model. Here is the rough math by category for context (these are industry midpoints, not promises, and any individual operator’s numbers will vary):

• Youth coaching: $150-$300 per athlete per session block, 6-10 week sessions, 200-400 athletes per active territory. Annual revenue per athlete $400-$1,200.
• Swim school: $25-$40 per lesson, weekly recurring, 600-1,500 enrolled families per location. Annual revenue per family $1,500-$2,500.
• Boutique fitness: $159-$219 per month unlimited membership, 300-600 active members per studio. Annual revenue per member $1,900-$2,600.
• Big-box fitness (Anytime, Crunch, Planet): $15-$50 per month membership, 1,500-6,000 members per club. Annual revenue per member $180-$600.
• Sports retail (Play It Again Sports, Fleet Feet): $40-$80 average transaction, 15,000-25,000 transactions per year per store.

Membership retention is the single biggest variable inside any boutique fitness model. A studio with 12-month average retention runs at very different unit economics than one with 6-month retention, even at the same gross billing. Buyers evaluating an existing studio should ask for member tenure cohort data, not just trailing twelve month revenue.

Real Estate Considerations for Sports/Fitness Franchise Models

Real estate is the second-largest fixed cost after labor for almost every model in this category, and it varies enormously by sub-segment. Five rules of thumb:

1. Youth coaching concepts that use partner schools and parks (TGA, Skyhawks, i9, Soccer Shots) have near-zero real estate cost. This is why they fit a home-based or low-overhead operator.
2. Small-box fitness (9Round, Burn Boot Camp outdoor variations) runs 1,200 to 2,500 square feet. End-cap retail with parking. Rent $25-$40 per square foot in most secondary markets.
3. Boutique fitness (Club Pilates, Pure Barre, StretchLab) targets 1,500 to 2,500 square feet in high-foot-traffic retail strips near grocery anchors and athleisure retailers.
4. HIIT and group functional fitness (Orangetheory, F45) needs 3,000 to 4,500 square feet to fit the rower, treadmill, and floor zones simultaneously.
5. Swim schools with pools need 8,000 to 14,000 square feet and HVAC, drainage, and utility specs that essentially limit them to purpose-built buildings or specifically converted shells. This is what drives the $2 million plus build cost.

D1 Training sits in a middle band at 8,000 to 10,000 square feet for the indoor turf and weight area. That footprint is one reason D1 capital cost runs higher than the typical youth coaching brand.

Why Private Equity Owns Most of the Top Sports Franchise Concepts

Look at the ownership map of the brands above and a pattern is obvious: private equity owns most of them. Roark Capital owns Orangetheory and the rest of the Purpose Brands portfolio (Anytime Fitness, Waxing the City). L Catterton owns Big Blue Swim School. Leonard Green owns Aqua-Tots. North Castle Partners owns Burn Boot Camp. TSG Consumer Partners owns Crunch Fitness. Xponential is publicly traded but was sponsored by H&W Capital Partners. Youth Enrichment Brands (i9 Sports, Skyhawks, Soccer Shots in many markets, SafeSplash) is sponsored by Searchlight Capital.

Three forces explain the PE concentration:

1. Recurring revenue. Membership and tuition-based concepts produce predictable monthly cash flow that PE underwriters love. A boutique fitness studio at maturity looks like a SaaS business with a coach.
2. Multi-unit scalability. A single franchisor can grow from 50 to 500 units in five years without owning the operating capital. That growth profile fits the typical 5-7 year PE hold.
3. Exit demand from larger sponsors. The franchisor itself is a tradeable asset. Roark, L Catterton, and Leonard Green all buy from smaller sponsors who took the brand from 50 to 200 units and now want a return.

What does this mean for an operator buying a unit in this space? Two things. First, the franchisor’s PE sponsor is going to push for unit growth, which can mean territory encroachment risk if your concept is in a development-heavy phase. Second, the franchisor may change hands during your franchise term. Read your FDD Item 1 carefully, look at the ownership history, and ask about franchisor stability the same way you would underwrite any operating partner. For more on the buy-side mechanics, see our guide on business acquisition structures.

Brand Stability and Sponsor-Change Risk

Reading the FDD Item 1 ownership history and Item 3 litigation disclosure is non-negotiable. Look for two patterns. First, has the franchisor changed sponsor more than twice in the past seven years? Each sponsor change brings new operating priorities, often with pressure to push unit growth faster than the existing operator base can support. Second, does Item 3 show a pattern of operator-against-franchisor litigation (encroachment claims, fee disputes, training adequacy)? A clean Item 3 in a 200-plus unit system is a strong signal of a healthy operator base. A growing Item 3 docket usually correlates with reduced renewal rates and softer unit-level performance two years out.

Pro Sports Franchise Ownership: A Brief Reality Check on Valuations

To close the loop on the other meaning of the phrase: pro team valuations have detached from operating cash flow and become trophy assets. Sportico 2025 NFL valuations put the average team at $7.13 billion with three teams over $10 billion: Dallas Cowboys ($12.8B), Los Angeles Rams ($10.43B), and New York Giants ($10.25B). NBA average: $5.51 billion. MLB average: $2.82 billion. NHL: $2.1 billion. MLS: $767 million.

The valuation methodology Sportico and Forbes use combines a revenue multiple (typically 8-12x for NFL teams, lower for MLB) with adjustments for stadium economics, media rights, and market size. Forbes uses a similar but separately calculated method and produces slightly different numbers.

For 99 percent of buyers, pro team ownership is an academic question. For the 1 percent of buyers it is real for, the playbook is entirely different from operating franchise acquisition: minority interests start around 1-3 percent of team value (so $50-$300 million minimum check size on most teams), league approval is required, and operating control sits with the principal owner.

The closest crossover between the two worlds is in lower minor league baseball, semi-pro hockey, and emerging women’s pro leagues, where individual team valuations can sit in the $5-$50 million range and operating involvement is real. For most CT Acquisitions clients, that is still the wrong door. The operating franchise side, where a multi-unit boutique fitness or youth training portfolio can be assembled for $3-$15 million and produce meaningful EBITDA, is the right one.

How CT Acquisitions Helps Sports Franchise Buyers and Multi-Unit Operators

CT Acquisitions works with three kinds of clients in this category:

• First-time buyers deciding between concepts. We model unit economics, compare FDD Item 7 ranges, evaluate territory availability, and flag franchisor stability issues before the franchise agreement is signed. Start with our 2026 franchise rankings and how to buy a franchise step by step.
• Multi-unit operators rolling up units in the boutique fitness and youth training tiers. Most of these brands have area developer or area representative tracks that allow a single operator to acquire 5-25 units in a defined geography. We support sourcing, structuring, financing, and integration.
• Sellers exiting single units or full multi-unit platforms. Whether you own a single Pure Barre studio or a 12-unit Anytime Fitness portfolio, exit timing, multiple expectation, and buyer pool all behave differently than they would in a non-franchised category.

Adjacent reading: how to open a franchise, royalty fees explained, home services franchises, senior care franchises, and best food franchises 2026.

Sports Franchise: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cheapest sports franchise I can buy?

The lowest-capital concepts with a real national brand are i9 Sports ($36,500-$60,000), Soccer Shots ($42,950-$54,300), and Lil’ Kickers ($24,450-$64,435). All three are home-based or use partner facilities, so there is no real estate buildout. Best for a coach-operator who wants to start with one territory and scale into multiple later.

What is the most profitable sports franchise to own?

At the unit level, Orangetheory Fitness and Goldfish Swim School routinely report the highest average unit volumes ($1.0-$1.7 million) in this category. profitability is driven by membership retention and operating efficiency, not gross revenue. A well-run Club Pilates or Pure Barre studio can produce stronger unit-level EBITDA than a poorly-run Orangetheory.

How much does an Anytime Fitness franchise cost in 2026?

Anytime Fitness initial investment is $539,000 to $905,000 per the 2026 FDD with a $42,500 franchise fee. Royalty is a flat monthly amount (currently $699 per location) rather than a percentage of revenue, which is unusual in the fitness category and tends to favor higher-volume operators.

Who owns Orangetheory Fitness?

Orangetheory is part of Purpose Brands (formerly Self Esteem Brands), which is owned by Roark Capital after the 2024 combination with Anytime Fitness. Roark also owns Inspire Brands, Driven Brands, and a deep portfolio of multi-unit franchise concepts.

Is Play It Again Sports still a good sports franchise to buy?

Play It Again Sports has 302 units and average unit volume around $992,000 per Franchise Payback’s 2026 sports rankings. The resale model has held up well across recession cycles because consumers trade down to used goods when budgets tighten. Initial investment $343,000-$457,000, 5 percent royalty, 5-7 percent marketing fund.

What is the difference between a sports franchise and a fitness franchise?

In common usage, the sports franchise label covers any franchised business in sports, fitness, swim, or sports retail. Fitness franchise is the narrower subcategory covering gyms, boutique studios, and group training concepts. Most directory sites (SBA, IFA, Franchise Business Review) treat youth sports, swim schools, and fitness as separate categories even though they all roll up to the broader sports franchise universe.

Do youth sports franchises actually make money?

Yes, but the unit economics are smaller than fitness. Soccer Shots reports average owner income above $90,000 per Franchise Direct. D1 Training mature units produce $700,000-plus in revenue with a low-six-figure owner take after royalty, rent, and coach wages. The advantage of youth sports concepts is lower capital at risk and faster ramp than boutique fitness.

How many sports franchise concepts are there in the United States?

The IFA and SBA directories list more than 200 franchised sports, fitness, and youth coaching brands. Franchise Business Review tracks roughly 80 in its sports and fitness categories. Entrepreneur Franchise 500 covers another 60-plus in adjacent wellness and youth categories.

What is the typical royalty for a sports franchise?

Most concepts in this category charge 6-8 percent royalty on gross revenue plus a 1-3 percent brand fund or national ad contribution. A few outliers exist: Anytime Fitness uses a flat $699 monthly fee, Sport Clips charges 6 percent royalty plus 6 percent brand fund, and some youth concepts use sliding scales that drop with territory revenue.

Can I finance a sports franchise with an SBA loan?

Most of the brands in this guide appear on the SBA Franchise Directory and are eligible for SBA 7(a) loans up to $5 million. Typical SBA-backed deals finance 70-85 percent of total project cost with the operator contributing 15-30 percent equity plus working capital. Lender appetite is strongest for franchisors with five-plus years of system history and stable unit-level disclosures.

For step-by-step structuring of a franchise acquisition, see CT Acquisitions on how to buy a franchise and reach out for a free consultation on your specific acquisition target.

How do royalty fees affect long-run profitability?

Royalty is a permanent expense that compounds with revenue growth. A 7 percent royalty on a $1 million studio is $70,000 per year, and that line item never goes away. Operators who plan to sell their unit in five to seven years should model post-royalty EBITDA conservatively and benchmark against the franchisor’s own Item 19 disclosures rather than top-line revenue claims. Our royalty fee explainer walks through the structures in detail.

What due diligence is unique to franchised acquisitions?

Beyond standard buy-side diligence (financials, leases, employee matters), franchised acquisitions require three additional workstreams. First, the franchisor must approve the buyer, including financial and operational fitness review. Second, the franchise agreement may carry a transfer fee (typically $10,000-$25,000) and a renewal clock that resets or doesn’t. Third, the existing franchise agreement terms (royalty rate, brand fund contribution, territory definitions) follow the buyer; older agreements sometimes carry materially better economics than current FDDs, which can be a meaningful value driver in the purchase price discussion.