Snap Fitness

Snap Fitness charges a $39,500 franchise fee — straightforward and non-negotiable for new franchisees. Existing franchisees pay $34,500 for additional clubs, and veterans get a $5,000 discount to $34,500. The Area Development Agreement for three-club commitments runs $89,500 ($25,000 per additional club beyond three).

The mandatory grand opening marketing payment of $10,500 is due to the franchisor 90 days before opening — essentially an advance marketing fee that's non-refundable. The door access setup fee of $500 is required upfront.

Buildout is the big variable: a 4,000-6,000 sq ft club runs $430,800-$889,900 all-in. A larger 6,000-8,000 sq ft club costs $573,900-$1,118,100. Build-out labor ($120,000-$240,000) and leasehold improvements ($80,000-$280,000) are the largest line items, followed by fitness equipment at $60,000-$300,000 — the wide range reflecting whether you finance (20% down) or purchase outright.

The flat-fee royalty model is genuinely unusual. Instead of a percentage, you pay $700/month per club plus a $0.70/member/month maintenance fee plus $7.00 per new membership agreement. For a club with 700 members signing 20 new members per month, that's $700 + $490 + $140 = $1,330/month in royalty-equivalent fees. Compare to Anytime Fitness at approximately $549/month flat royalty — Snap's model is more expensive at scale.

The total monthly fee stack: $700 (royalty) + $500 (national marketing) + $200 (local coop) + $400 (local marketing spend) + $400 (technology) + $546.47 (SAPP insurance) + $29.95 (medical panic) + $45 (insurance processing if applicable) = roughly $2,821/month minimum, before membership-based fees. At average revenue of $250,461/year, that's about $33,852 in flat fees alone — about 13.5% of gross revenue before any percentage-based obligations.

Snap Fitness provides detailed Item 19 data including both corporate club P&L data and franchised club revenue data.

For franchised clubs (479 clubs reporting full 2024): average gross revenue $250,461, median $214,821. The range spans $48,741 to $1,387,046 — a roughly 28x spread between bottom and top.

The corporate club data is where the business case gets interesting. The 9 corporate-owned clubs averaged $410,365 in revenue with a $89,439 average operating income (22% margin). The top third of corporate clubs averaged $626,028 revenue with $174,575 operating income (28% margin). That profitability data is encouraging — but corporate clubs average 671 monthly members versus 719 average for the franchised system, suggesting corporate locations may be in better or more mature markets.

By size segment: clubs over 8,000 sq ft averaged $557,637 in revenue with 1,380 average members. Clubs 6,000-8,000 sq ft averaged $362,512 with 950 members. The smaller clubs (under 4,000 sq ft) averaged $204,567 with 604 members. Square footage strongly predicts revenue — the larger your club, the more members you can accommodate and retain.

The bottom quartile averaging $108,559 in annual revenue is a concern. At that revenue level, the flat monthly fee stack ($2,821+/month = $33,852/year) consumes 31% of gross revenue before rent, labor, or equipment. Those clubs are almost certainly operating at a loss.

Snap Fitness is in contraction. The system peaked at 559 units in 2022 and has declined to 493 by end-2024 — a loss of 66 units over three years. In 2024 specifically: 6 openings, 32 closures/ceased operations, 21 non-renewals. That's 53 exits against 6 new openings — a deeply unfavorable ratio.

The non-renewal activity is particularly telling. Non-renewals represent franchisees whose 10-year agreements expired and who chose not to continue. With 13, 20, and 21 non-renewals across 2022, 2023, and 2024 respectively, there's a cohort of 10-year operators who originally opened around 2012-2014 deciding the business isn't worth renewing. That population's collective judgment about the business economics is real-world data that the Item 19 revenue numbers can't fully capture.

Snap Fitness is part of Lift Brands, formerly associated with Anytime Fitness (now under different ownership). The brand's competitive position against Anytime Fitness (5,000+ units and growing) and Planet Fitness (2,400+ units) in the 24/7 gym space is under pressure. Larger chains have more national marketing spend, better member acquisition costs, and more negotiating leverage with equipment suppliers.

The system contraction trend is the most important flag in this FDD. Before committing to a Snap Fitness franchise, build a specific picture of why units are closing and not renewing. Ask the franchisor for market-by-market data on closures. Were they concentrated in certain demographics, footprints, or competing markets? Did the recently-exited franchisees cite specific financial or operational issues?

The flat fee model that looks predictable at low revenue becomes punishing at very low revenue. A club doing $150,000/year pays the same $700/month royalty as one doing $500,000/year. For struggling operators, there's no royalty relief — unlike percentage-based systems that naturally self-adjust with revenue.

Snap Fitness has no renewal fee (the FDD states $0), which is a genuine positive. But the 'renovate and modernize' requirement that likely accompanies renewal means your year-10 decision involves a capital expenditure on top of the decision to continue.

The SAPP (Snap Asset Protection Plan) insurance at $546.47/month is a required insurance product purchased through the franchisor. You cannot shop this independently. Understand exactly what it covers and what your total insurance burden looks like alongside this mandatory program.