Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S0727 since 2017
GOLD'S GYM
Fitness · independent · est. —
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% from 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. 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 disclosed record shows weakness — shrinking units, elevated exits, or churn — worth reading closely before going further.
Exit rate · latest year
19.5%
vs 3.8% across 34 fitness systems
Cost to open
$2.4M–$5.2M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
14.7%
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
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 31 of 159 franchised outlets left the system — a 19.5% 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) | 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 lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 245 SBA-backed loans to GOLD'S GYM franchisees since 1991. Of the 191 that have resolved, 14.7% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
14.7%
28 of 191 resolved defaulted
66.7%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
9.8%
default rate × loss severity
$1,591,961
what recent franchisees borrowed
85 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
3 vs 12
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 GOLD'S GYM BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
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 every dollar the store takes in — before rent, payroll, food, or royalty.
Who finances it
Readycap Lending, Llc
5.6% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 31.5% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
63.5%
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?
−6.4pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 7.9%; single-unit owners at 14.3%.
Computed from 245 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to GOLD'S GYM 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 $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)
$40K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$50K
5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$500K
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 GOLD'S GYM with an independent CPALabor 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. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2017.
Modeled 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
Measured
Modeled SBA charge-off
15.9%
Observed SBA charge-off
14.7%
Top drivers: Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (raises) · Single-lender dependence (raises) · Net unit growth (raises). 50+ resolved loans and complete disclosure data — the score is checkable against the brand's observed rate. 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 GOLD'S GYM. 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 GOLD'S GYM's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →GOLD'S GYM franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of GOLD'S GYM franchises closed last year?
In GOLD'S GYM's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 31 of 159 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 19.5% — 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 GOLD'S GYM franchise cost?
Per GOLD'S GYM's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $40K (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?
Across 245 SBA-backed loans to GOLD'S GYM franchisees since 1991, 28 of the 191 that have resolved were charged off — a 14.7% 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.