From the filed FDD — automated extraction, check the source
2026 FDD
SBA-eligible · directory code S0727 since 2017
GOLD'S GYM
Gyms & health clubs · parent company: not identified
Gold's Gym is a full-size health club chain offering strength and cardio equipment, group classes, and personal training. A franchisee builds out and operates a large gym facility, selling memberships and managing trainers and club staff.
GOLD'S GYM net unit count declined 13.3% 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: units fell 13% (2023–2025: 210 → 182); 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); the fiscal 2025 exit rate was 19.5%, well above the 4.6% median across 6 comparable systems (gyms & health clubs). SBA loans to its franchisees approved FY1991–2020 charged off at a rate not clearly different from franchise loans of the same years (28 vs about 33 expected, 0.8×). This is our opinion of the filing, not a finding about the franchisor's finances.
Exit rate · fiscal 2025
19.5%
vs 4.6% median across 6 comparable systems (gyms & health clubs)
Cost to open
$2.4M–$5.2M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan losses · vs same-year loans
0.8×
28 of 190 charged off vs ~33 expected
Market density · California
Typical density
14% denser than the national average
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Data as of 2026-10-29. Figures come from GOLD'S GYM's public FDD filings (latest: MN 2026, extracted 2026-07-23) 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 GOLD'S GYM? Transfer fee $2,500–$10,000, resale record and asking-price check →
What each source says
FDD record · SBA loans · model · auditor
The sources broadly agree, and the verdict follows the FDD's operating record.
FDD record · Item 20
Weaker operating record
Units fell 13% (2023–2025: 210 → 182); exit rate 19.5% (fiscal 2025) vs 4.6% median.
SBA loans · vs same-year loans
About as expected (0.8×)
28 charge-offs among 190 resolved loans approved FY1991–2020; about 33 expected.
Modeled risk
Elevated
Riskier than 77% of scored systems.
Auditor opinion · Item 21
Clean opinion
Unqualified audit, 2026 FDD. Says nothing about franchisee results.
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, 31 of 159 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 19.5% (fiscal 2025), vs a 4.6% median across 6 comparable systems (gyms & health clubs). 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 | 221 | 210 | 211 |
| Opened | 10 | 7 | 4 |
| Transfers | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Terminations | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Non-renewals | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 5 | 1 | 25 |
| Outlets at end | 210 | 211 | 182 |
| Net change | -11 | +1 | -29 |
The franchisor's own finances
FDD ITEM 21 · AUDITED STATEMENTS · 2026 FDD
Rödl Langford de Kock LLP gave an unmodified (clean) opinion on the statements in the 2026 FDD; revenue rose 104% from FY2024 to FY2025.
This is the company selling the franchise, not any franchisee. A clean opinion means the statements are fairly presented — not that the business is healthy.
Revenue · FY2025
$25.0M
extracted · not cross-checked
Net income · FY2025
$19.8M
p. 188 · matched to statement
Where FY2025 revenue came from
51% royalties
initial-fee share not extracted
Show the statement figures ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Fiscal year | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $12.3Mextracted · not cross-checked | $25.0Mextracted · not cross-checked |
| Royalty revenue | $12.2Mextracted · not cross-checked | $12.8Mextracted · not cross-checked |
| Net income (loss) | $6.9Mp. 188 · matched to statement | $19.8Mp. 188 · matched to statement |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan outcomes · compared with franchise loans of the same years
Banks have made 245 SBA-backed loans to GOLD'S GYM franchisees since 1991. Of the 190 approved FY1991–2020 that have resolved, 28 charged off — where about 33 would be expected for franchise loans made in the same years. That is 0.8× the expected rate: these loans defaulted at a rate not clearly different from comparable franchise loans (a gap this size on this many loans could be chance).
All-time, 28 of 191 resolved loans charged off (14.7%). 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.
0.8×
28 of 190 resolved (FY1991–2020) vs ~33 expected
14.7%
28 of 191 resolved, every approval year
66.7%
charged-off $ ÷ approved $, defaulted loans
$1,591,962
what recent franchisees borrowed
85 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
3 vs 12
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
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO GOLD'S GYM 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
A typical GOLD'S GYM buyer since 2020 borrowed $1.6M through SBA — about $186K a year in debt service. Against the brand's own disclosed median unit revenue of $1.8M, that is 10.6% of the revenue the business takes in, before rent, staff pay, equipment, and royalty.
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.
Who finances it
Readycap Lending, LLC
5.6% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 31.7% of its resolved SBA loans to other franchise brands in the FOIA file, vs 14.8% nationally — a read on that lender's portfolio mix, not a finding about the bank.
Who buys it
63.5%
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?
−6.4pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 7.9%; single-unit owners at 14.3% (each on 15+ resolved loans, owners identified by borrower-name matching).
Computed from 245 SBA 7(a)/504 loans matched to GOLD'S GYM 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 $40,000 franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $2.4M–$5.2M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$2.4M–$5.2M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$40,000
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Starts at the Item 19 median of $1.8M from GOLD'S GYM’s latest FDD. Read which units built that figure, then check it with current and former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$90K
5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$900K
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 rent, staff pay, equipment payments, 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 GOLD'S GYM with a buyer-paid CPAHow the earnings claim is built
FDD ITEM 19 · BASIS · 2026 FDD
The headline figure is Average Gross Revenue for Calendar year 2025, for 126 of 132 units, leaving out open < 12 months, did not deliver full-year Gross Revenue statements. It shows no costs, so it says nothing about what an owner keeps.
Graded on three things the filing states: coverage (2 points if the figure covers at least 75% of the units it is compared with, 1 point for 50–75%), centre (2 points if it prints both a median and a mean, 1 for one of them), and costs (2 points for costs through a profit line or full cost detail, 1 for some cost items). 5–6 points = More complete, 3–4 = Partial, 0–2 = Limited. The grade describes the disclosure, not the business.
Show the basis ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| What is measured | Average Gross Revenue (gross sales) |
| Period | Calendar year 2025 |
| Whose results | Franchised outlets |
| Units included | 126 of 132 franchised facilities open at Dec 31, 2025 |
| Left out |
|
| Average (mean) | $1.8M |
| Median | $1.8M |
| Mean vs median | mean 2.2% above median |
| Met or beat the average | 46% (58) |
| Costs shown | None — sales only |
| Where | p. 60 (Item 19 runs pp. 58–61) |
| The filing's words | “The data for each Measurement Period has been pulled from all Gold's Gym Facilities that were in operation as of the end of the prior calendar year and, thus, operated for the entire calendar year” |
Labor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 42 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $112K in back wages for 245 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
42
Back wages owed
$112K
Employees affected
245
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual GOLD'S GYM franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not GOLD'S GYM 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 2017.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · a prediction from disclosure and loan-file features
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks riskier than 77% of the systems we score (elevated band).
Observed · vs same-year loans
0.8×
28 of 190 seasoned loans charged off
Risk percentile
77th
Checkable · higher = riskier
Modeled · vs same-year loans
1.4×
≈ 22.9% at the all-loan vintage mix
Top drivers: Item 20 exit rate (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Item 3 litigation (log) (raises) · System size (log units) (raises). The brand has 30+ seasoned resolved SBA loans, so the score can be checked against its own record. 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 GOLD'S GYM. 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 GOLD'S GYM 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 GOLD'S GYM has disclosed. Each one carries the number it came from, so you can check the answer against the record.
- 01
GOLD'S GYM’s own Item 20 shows 31 of 159 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2025 — about 19.5%. 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
2 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 210 units to 182 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 GOLD'S GYM franchisees approved 1991–2020 defaulted at a rate not clearly different from franchise loans made in the same years: 28 charge-offs among 190 resolved loans, where about 33 would be expected (0.8×). 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 · 0.8× of same-vintage franchise loans
- 05
You pay 5.0% 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
GOLD'S GYM makes an earnings claim in Item 19. Does your unit look like that number — and do you know which units they included to build it?
Item 19 is legal to build from a flattering subset. Ask whether they excluded new units, closed units, or company stores.
FDD Item 19 · 2026
- 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 GOLD'S GYM’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 GOLD'S GYM’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.
GOLD'S GYM franchise questions, answered from the filings
How many GOLD'S GYM franchised outlets left the system last year?
In GOLD'S GYM's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 31 of 159 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 19.5% — compared with a 4.6% median across 6 comparable systems (gyms & health clubs) 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 GOLD'S GYM franchise cost?
Per GOLD'S GYM's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $40,000 (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $2.4M–$5.2M (Item 7).
What royalty does GOLD'S GYM charge?
GOLD'S GYM charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does GOLD'S GYM disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — GOLD'S GYM makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $1.8M. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.
How often do SBA loans for GOLD'S GYM franchises default?
SBA loans to GOLD'S GYM franchisees approved 1991–2020 defaulted at a rate not clearly different from franchise loans made in the same years: 28 charge-offs among 190 resolved loans, where about 33 would be expected (0.8×). All-time, 28 of 191 resolved loans since 1991 charged off (14.7%); 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.