From the filed FDD — automated extraction, check the source
2025 FDD
SBA-eligible · directory code S2196 since 2017
GODFATHER'S PIZZA
Pizza · parent company: not identified
Godfather's Pizza is a long-running American pizza chain known for thick-crust pizzas, sold for dine-in, carryout, and delivery, including kiosk locations inside convenience stores. A franchisee operates a pizza restaurant or counter, managing food prep, staff, and orders.
GODFATHER'S PIZZA net unit count declined 0.3% over 2023–2025 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. Most numbers on this page come from that document; others come from federal SBA loan records and labor and census data, each labelled with its source:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened, transferred and left the system, the main basis for our verdict, which rates how strong the disclosed record is, or says when the system is too new, the filing too old, or the disclosure too thin to judge.
Our rating · opinion
Weaker disclosed record
Below our threshold on the operating record we compute from Item 20 — unit growth, the mix of exits, owner turnover and promise-keeping. What pulls it down: most exits were terminations or closures rather than transfers to new owners; the system opened far fewer outlets than it projected (Item 20 Table 5). SBA loans to its franchisees approved FY1991–2020 charged off about as often as franchise loans of the same years (10 vs about 10 expected, 1.0×). This is our opinion of the filing, not a finding about the franchisor's finances.
Exit rate · fiscal 2025
3.6%
vs 4.1% median across 11 comparable systems (pizza)
Cost to open
$711K–$1.3M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan losses · vs same-year loans
1.0×
10 of 56 charged off vs ~10 expected
Market density · Iowa
Typical density
10% thinner than the national average
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Data as of 2026-10-29. Figures come from GODFATHER'S PIZZA's public FDD filings (latest: MN 2025, extracted 2026-06-19) and SBA FOIA loan records (through FY2026), extracted by us and possibly containing errors. The rating is our opinion, not investment, legal, or tax advice. Franchisor or owner and see something wrong? Report a correction — we review every request.
Buying an existing GODFATHER'S PIZZA? Transfer fee $5,000, resale record and asking-price check →
Where the sources disagree
FDD record · SBA loans · model · auditor
The verdict follows the FDD's operating record; the loan record and model read differently and are worth asking the franchisor about.
FDD record · Item 20
Weaker operating record
Units held flat (2023–2025: 608 → 606); exit rate 3.6% (fiscal 2025) vs 4.1% median.
SBA loans · vs same-year loans
About as expected (1.0×)
10 charge-offs among 56 resolved loans approved FY1991–2020; about 10 expected.
Modeled risk
Lower risk
Directional only — too few seasoned loans to check it.
Auditor opinion · Item 21
Not extracted
We did not extract the audit opinion.
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
latest consecutive years · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness · shown, not counted in the verdict
Systemwide units
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 21 of 586 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 3.6% (fiscal 2025), vs a 4.1% median across 11 comparable systems (pizza). An exit is not a failure: this counts terminations, non-renewals and "ceased — other reasons" as reported, and excludes transfers to new owners.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 604 | 608 | 598 |
| Opened | 31 | 41 | 27 |
| Transfers | 6 | 15 | 7 |
| Terminations | 27 | 54 | 21 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 608 | 598 | 606 |
| Net change | +4 | -10 | +8 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan outcomes · compared with franchise loans of the same years
Banks have made 64 SBA-backed loans to GODFATHER'S PIZZA franchisees since 1991. Of the 56 approved FY1991–2020 that have resolved, 10 charged off — where about 10 would be expected for franchise loans made in the same years. That is 1.0× the expected rate: these loans defaulted about as often as comparable franchise loans.
All-time, 10 of 56 resolved loans charged off (17.9%). That raw figure mixes every approval year since 1991 — loans made in 2006–08 failed at several times the rate of loans made in 2010–13 across all franchises — so it is shown as evidence, not as the score.
1.0×
10 of 56 resolved (FY1991–2020) vs ~10 expected
17.9%
10 of 56 resolved, every approval year
72.9%
charged-off $ ÷ approved $, defaulted loans
$250,000
what recent franchisees borrowed
58 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
2 vs 4
distinct banks — fewer than FY16–20 (loan volume and SBA name coding affect this)
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%) · dashed line = all franchise loans that year
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO GODFATHER'S PIZZA BY SBA FRANCHISE NAME/CODE · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL · EXPECTED = SAME-YEAR RATE ACROSS ALL SBA FRANCHISE LOANS, LOANS ≥ ~6 YEARS OLD
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Inb, National Association
8.8% of this brand's loans
Who buys it
64.7%
borrowers with no other franchise SBA loan on record
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators have charged off less often than brands sold mostly to newcomers (see methodology).
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 64 SBA 7(a)/504 loans matched to GODFATHER'S PIZZA by SBA franchise code in the SBA FOIA file. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. Owner-level splits rely on borrower-name matching and may misclassify. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $25,000 franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $711K–$1.3M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$711K–$1.3M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$25,000
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
3.25%
of sales, ongoing
Starts at a placeholder of $900K — a round figure for the sector, not from GODFATHER'S PIZZA’s filings. This brand's FDD makes no Item 19 earnings claim; set your own figure and check it with current and former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$29K
3.25% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$293K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This estimate is computed by software from the brand's public filings and any inputs you enter. No CPA prepared it for you and no assurance is provided on it. Actual results will differ, and the differences may be material.
This is not profit. It covers what the FDD fixes: what you put in, and the royalty you owe on sales. Your take-home depends on food and packaging cost, labor, rent, and the months to breakeven, none of which the FDD fixes for your unit (some Item 19s include cost data — read it).
Build a real pro-forma for GODFATHER'S PIZZA with a buyer-paid CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 18 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $9K in back wages for 58 workers, including 9 child-labor cases. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
18
Back wages owed
$9K
Employees affected
58
Since 2020
2
9 of these cases involved child-labor violations, covering 40 minors across the system's franchised locations.
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual GODFATHER'S PIZZA franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not GODFATHER'S PIZZA itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Cases are matched to the brand by trade name and may include misattributed employers. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2025.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · a prediction from disclosure and loan-file features
The model puts this brand in its lower-risk band — but this brand has too few seasoned SBA loans to check the score against, so read it as a band, not a number.
Observed · vs same-year loans
1.0×
10 of 56 seasoned loans charged off
Risk percentile
Lower risk
Directional · no point estimate
Modeled · vs same-year loans
band only
too few seasoned loans to check
Top drivers: No Item 19 disclosure (lowers) · System size (log units) (lowers) · Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · Royalty rate (raises). Too few seasoned SBA loans to check the score — read it as a band. A linear scorecard trained on brands' vintage-adjusted SBA loss records; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Public records
Bankruptcy, closure & federal court records · coverage is selective · dockets are not scored
We have no verified public-record signals published for GODFATHER'S PIZZA. This is not evidence that no events exist. Check PACER, the FDD's Item 3 (litigation) and Item 4 (bankruptcy), and recent news yourself.
10 questions to ask a GODFATHER'S PIZZA franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These questions come from what GODFATHER'S PIZZA has disclosed. Each one carries the number it came from, so you can check the answer against the record.
- 01
GODFATHER'S PIZZA’s own Item 20 shows 21 of 586 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2025 — about 3.6%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2025
- 02
7 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2025. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?
Item 20 counts transfers as neutral, but a transfer can be a good sale or a reluctant exit — the filing does not say which.
FDD Item 20 · FY2025
- 03
The system went from 608 units to 606 over 3 disclosed years. What's the explanation you've been given, and do you believe it?
A shrinking system means fewer owners funding the ad fund and support staff you're paying for.
FDD Item 20 · FY2023–FY2025
- 04
SBA loans to GODFATHER'S PIZZA franchisees approved 1991–2020 defaulted about as often as franchise loans made in the same years: 10 charge-offs among 56 resolved loans, where about 10 would be expected (1.0×). Did you finance with an SBA loan, and how close did your first two years come to trouble?
This is the lender's view of how these loans ended, from public federal records matched by SBA franchise code — independent of anything the franchisor discloses — compared with franchise loans made in the same years. A charge-off is a loan outcome, not proof the business closed.
SBA 7(a)/504 loan record, seasoned loans FY1991–FY2020 · 1.0× of same-vintage franchise loans
- 05
You pay 3.3% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 06
GODFATHER'S PIZZA’s FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?
When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.
FDD Item 19 · 2025
- 07
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 08
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 09
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 10
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if GODFATHER'S PIZZA’s numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is usually paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid only by you, never by a franchisor you're considering — and the job is pressure-testing GODFATHER'S PIZZA’s numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Franchisors: send corrections with the page reference and we will review them against the filing and update or annotate the page. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
GODFATHER'S PIZZA franchise questions, answered from the filings
How many GODFATHER'S PIZZA franchised outlets left the system last year?
In GODFATHER'S PIZZA's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 21 of 586 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 3.6% — compared with a 4.1% median across 11 comparable systems (pizza) tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons" as the franchisor reported them; it excludes transfers to new owners. The FDD does not say why each outlet left, and an exit is not the same as a failure.
How much does a GODFATHER'S PIZZA franchise cost?
Per GODFATHER'S PIZZA's 2025 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $25,000 (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $711K–$1.3M (Item 7).
What royalty does GODFATHER'S PIZZA charge?
GODFATHER'S PIZZA charges an ongoing royalty of 3.3% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2025 FDD.
Does GODFATHER'S PIZZA disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — GODFATHER'S PIZZA's 2025 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.
How often do SBA loans for GODFATHER'S PIZZA franchises default?
SBA loans to GODFATHER'S PIZZA franchisees approved 1991–2020 defaulted about as often as franchise loans made in the same years: 10 charge-offs among 56 resolved loans, where about 10 would be expected (1.0×). All-time, 10 of 56 resolved loans since 1991 charged off (17.9%); that raw figure mixes every approval year, so we compare with same-year loans instead. A charge-off is a loan loss, not proof the business closed. Source: public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data.