Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S1592 since 2017
Snap Fitness
Fitness · independent · est. —
Snap Fitness is a 24-hour access gym franchise with clubs built around cardio, strength training, and functional fitness zones. A franchisee builds out and operates a fitness club with a small staff, selling recurring memberships and training services to a broad local member base.
Snap Fitness net unit count declined -10.0% from 2017–2025 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. 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
Showing strain
Distress
The franchisor's own audited financials carry going-concern language — its auditor has doubts about its survival. Fundamentals cannot out-rank that.
Exit rate · latest year
5.2%
vs 3.4% across 33 fitness systems
Cost to open
$555K–$828K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
11.4%
vs 14.8% avg across rated brands
Market density · Minnesota
Typical density
3% denser than the national average
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
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 25 of 484 franchised outlets left the system — a 5.2% annualized exit rate, vs 3.4% across 33 fitness systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 994 | 933 | 880 | 559 | 520 | 493 |
| Opened | 35 | 22 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Transfers | 69 | 72 | 52 | 33 | 31 | 19 |
| Terminations | 23 | 43 | 69 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 5 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 21 | 13 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 40 | 15 | 4 | 19 | 10 | 12 |
| Outlets at end | 933 | 880 | 809 | 520 | 493 | 468 |
| Net change | -61 | -53 | -71 | -39 | -27 | -25 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 327 SBA-backed loans to Snap Fitness franchisees since 2005. Of the 237 that have resolved, 11.4% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 570 rated brands.
11.4%
27 of 237 resolved defaulted
62.3%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
7.1%
default rate × loss severity
$229,816
what recent franchisees borrowed
53 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
22 vs 48
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 SNAP FITNESS BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
A typical Snap Fitness buyer since 2020 borrowed $230K through SBA — about $30K a year in debt service. Against the brand's own disclosed median unit revenue of $234K, that is 13.0% of every dollar the store takes in — before rent, payroll, food, or royalty.
Who finances it
the Huntington National Bank
5.9% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 10.1% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
58.6%
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?
−10.9pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 4.1%; single-unit owners at 15.0%.
Computed from 327 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Snap Fitness 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 $40K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $555K–$828K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$555K–$828K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$40K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
—
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$0
0% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$0
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 Snap Fitness with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand sits mid-pack: riskier than 73% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
73 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
16.1%
Observed SBA charge-off
11.4%
Top drivers: Non-clean audit opinion (raises) · Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · System size (log units) (lowers) · Single-lender dependence (raises). 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
Dan Pierson closes Carew Tower Snap Fitness, launches Pierson Equity Group real estate fund
news:The Business Journals · 42mo ago
Snap Fitness Will Pay $2.9M To Settle Gym Fees Class Action
news:Top Class Actions · 61mo ago
11 questions to ask a Snap Fitness 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 are the questions built from what Snap Fitness has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
Snap Fitness’ own Item 20 shows 25 of 484 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2025 — about 5.2%. 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
19 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?
Transfers count as neutral in every ranking. They are the single easiest place to hide distress.
FDD Item 20 · FY2025
- 03
The system went from 520 units to 468 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
Of 237 SBA loans to Snap Fitness franchisees that have finished, 11.4% were charged off — the borrower didn't repay. 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 failure, from public federal records, and it is independent of anything the franchisor discloses.
SBA 7(a)/504 loan record, FY1991–present
- 05
Snap Fitness 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
- 06
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
- 07
The franchisor's own audited financials carry going-concern language — their auditor has flagged doubt about the company surviving. Has support or supply changed for you in the last year?
If the franchisor fails, your agreement, your supply chain and your brand can be sold to someone whose plans you never agreed to.
FDD Item 21 · audited financials
- 08
Item 3 discloses 9 legal matters. Do you know what those were about, and were any brought by franchisees?
Franchisee-brought suits over territory, fees or support tell you how the franchisor behaves when there's a disagreement.
FDD Item 3 · 2026
- 09
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
- 10
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
- 11
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 Snap Fitness’ numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Snap Fitness'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. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
Snap Fitness franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Snap Fitness franchises closed last year?
In Snap Fitness's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 25 of 484 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 5.2% — compared with 3.4% across 33 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 Snap Fitness franchise cost?
Per Snap Fitness's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $40K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $555K–$828K (Item 7).
Does Snap Fitness disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Snap Fitness makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $234K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.
How often do SBA loans for Snap Fitness franchises default?
Across 327 SBA-backed loans to Snap Fitness franchisees since 2005, 27 of the 237 that have resolved were charged off — a 11.4% 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.