Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S1224 since 2017
Orangetheory
Fitness · independent · est. —
Orangetheory Fitness is a boutique group-fitness chain built around coach-led, heart-rate-monitored interval workouts combining treadmill, rowing, and weight training. Members wear heart-rate monitors and follow along in roughly hour-long classes. A franchisee operates a studio with coaches, equipment, and membership-based classes.
Orangetheory net unit count grew +5.6% from 2021–2023 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. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- 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 and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The standout in the record: owners who leave mostly sell rather than fail.
Exit rate · latest year
1.8%
vs 3.8% across 34 fitness systems
Cost to open
$729K–$1.6M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
1.5%
vs 14.8% avg across rated brands
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · 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
Systemwide units
2021–2023
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2023, 23 of 1,281 franchised outlets left the system — a 1.8% annualized exit rate, vs 3.8% across 34 fitness systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 1,213 | 1,262 | 1,302 |
| Opened | 52 | 47 | 53 |
| Transfers | 149 | 43 | 33 |
| Terminations | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 7 | 22 |
| Outlets at end | 1,262 | 1,302 | 1,333 |
| Net change | +49 | +40 | +31 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 465 SBA-backed loans to Orangetheory franchisees since 2013. Of the 326 that have resolved, 1.5% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
1.5%
5 of 326 resolved defaulted
50.6%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
0.8%
default rate × loss severity
$998,154
what recent franchisees borrowed
79 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
27 vs 59
distinct banks — pulling back
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO ORANGETHEORY BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Wells Fargo Bank National Association
23.4% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 15.8% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
75.6%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
+0.4pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 1.9%; single-unit owners at 1.5%.
Computed from 465 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Orangetheory franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. 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 $60K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $729K–$1.6M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$729K–$1.6M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$60K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
8%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$80K
8% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$800K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for Orangetheory with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 2 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $3K in back wages for 8 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
2
Back wages owed
$3K
Employees affected
8
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual Orangetheory franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not Orangetheory 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. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2018.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 93% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
7 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
6.7%
Observed SBA charge-off
1.5%
Top drivers: System size (log units) (lowers) · Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (lowers). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Orangetheory. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Orangetheory's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Orangetheory franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Orangetheory franchises closed last year?
In Orangetheory's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2023), 23 of 1,281 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 1.8% — compared with 3.8% across 34 fitness systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a Orangetheory franchise cost?
Per Orangetheory's 2024 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $60K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $729K–$1.6M (Item 7).
What royalty does Orangetheory charge?
Orangetheory charges an ongoing royalty of 8.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2024 FDD.
Does Orangetheory disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — Orangetheory's 2024 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 Orangetheory franchises default?
Across 465 SBA-backed loans to Orangetheory franchisees since 2013, 5 of the 326 that have resolved were charged off — a 1.5% default rate, versus about 14.8% across all rated franchise brands. This is the lender's-eye view of franchisee failure, drawn from public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data and independent of the franchisor's own disclosures.