Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory — SBA financing may be unavailable; verify with your lender
Snap Fitness
Fitness · independent · est. —
Snap Fitness is a 24/7 gym franchise offering compact clubs with cardio and strength equipment and keycard access at all hours. A franchisee operates a fitness club with lean staffing, selling monthly memberships and personal training to members who value convenience and around-the-clock access.
Snap Fitness net unit count declined -13.3% from 2017–2019 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
8.8%
vs 3.8% across 34 fitness systems
Cost to open
$145K–$479K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
No loan record
no SBA 7(a)/504 loans found for this brand
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
2017–2019
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2019, 76 of 861 franchised outlets left the system — a 8.8% 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) | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 994 | 933 | 880 |
| Opened | 35 | 22 | 7 |
| Transfers | 69 | 72 | 52 |
| Terminations | 23 | 43 | 69 |
| Non-renewals | 5 | 1 | 3 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 40 | 15 | 4 |
| Outlets at end | 933 | 880 | 809 |
| Net change | -61 | -53 | -71 |
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $30K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $145K–$479K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$145K–$479K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$30K
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 CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 15 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $4K in back wages for 12 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
15
Back wages owed
$4K
Employees affected
12
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual Snap Fitness franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not Snap Fitness 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 2014.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Snap Fitness. 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 Snap Fitness's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →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 2019), 76 of 861 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 8.8% — 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 Snap Fitness franchise cost?
Per Snap Fitness's 2020 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $30K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $145K–$479K (Item 7).
Does Snap Fitness disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Snap Fitness makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2020 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.