Sports & Recreation

The sports franchise industry presents an exciting opportunity for aspiring business owners. From fitness centers to youth sports leagues, there are many opportunities for success.

Growth Potential of the Sports Franchise Industry

The sports and fitness franchise industry in the United States has seen tremendous growth over the years. From established names like Read more

The sports franchise industry presents an exciting opportunity for aspiring business owners. From fitness centers to youth sports leagues, there are many opportunities for success.

Growth Potential of the Sports Franchise Industry

The sports and fitness franchise industry in the United States has seen tremendous growth over the years. From established names like Gold's Gym, to emerging fitness and sports franchise brands such as Planet Fitness and Snap Fitness, the demand for sports-related services continues to rise. Whether it's group fitness or sports bar franchises, prospective business owners have ample opportunity to find a niche that suits their interests and goals.

Investing in a sports franchise allows you to tap into a passionate consumer base, whether it’s for martial arts, fitness centers, or even gaming franchises. Sports culture in cities like San Francisco, New York, and L.A. is deeply ingrained, making it a great market for those looking to build a successful business.

Benefits of Investing in a Sports Franchise

When you invest in a sports franchise, you’re buying into a proven business model with brand recognition and support. Key benefits include brand recognition, training and support. 

Evaluating Franchise Opportunities

When considering which sports or recreation franchise to invest in, conducting thorough market research is crucial. Here are a few steps to guide your evaluation process:

  • Understand the Competitive Landscape: Analyze the competition in your desired market.
  • Assess the Franchisor’s Reputation: Look into the franchise partners and track record of the brand you’re considering. Speaking with current franchise owners can provide valuable insight.
  • Review the FDD: Carefully go through the Franchise Disclosure Document to understand the financial performance, fees, and legal requirements.
  • Financial Aspects: Consider the profitability and ROI expectations by evaluating financial performance representations provided by the franchisor.

Key Considerations for Prospective Franchisees

Before investing in a franchise opportunity, there are several factors to consider to ensure you make an informed decision.

1. Initial Investment and Franchise Fees

The initial investment for a sports franchise can vary widely depending on the brand, location, and type of franchise. For example, a fitness franchise may have different franchise fees and ongoing costs compared to a sports bar franchise.

It's crucial to review the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) to understand the financial commitment, including any applicable pre-sale registration and disclosure requirements.

2. Location Requirements and Territory Exclusivity

Securing the right location is key to the success of your franchise. Understanding the market demand in your area is essential. Some franchises offer territory exclusivity, giving you the right to operate without competition in a specific region.

3. Training and Support

A key advantage of investing in a franchise is the training and support provided by the franchisor. From your first franchise to ongoing operational assistance, franchisors often provide a comprehensive training program to help you hit the ground running with confidence.

Start Your Franchise Journey 

With the support of a proven franchise system, extensive training programs, and ongoing operational support, you can build a successful business in this diverse industry. As the world’s largest membership organization for franchisors, franchisees, and suppliers, the International Franchise Association (IFA) is committed to providing guidance and support to help you navigate the process of becoming a franchise owner. Contact us today!

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Member since 2023

Purchase Green

Purchase Green is the highest-producing manufacturer and distributor of landscape and leisure products in the US. The organization provides nationwide distribution support that delivers a beautiful and broad product portfolio. Including artificial grass, putting greens and golf accessories, turf installation materials, artificial ivy, as well as modular tile for both indoor and outdoor multi-sport use-cases, retail or event operations, and residential applications.

Purchase Green’s fully integrated business solutions provide exceptional service and savings for their franchise partners. Paired with a successful business model that utilizes brick-and-mortar retail locations and local market distribution, the brand demonstrates outstanding potential for further expansion. Learn more today.
Lawn, Garden & Agricultural
Lawn, Garden & Agricultural
Green & Eco Friendly
Recreation: Equipment & Supplies
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Member since 2012

Aqua-Tots Swim School Holding, LLC

Since 1991, Aqua-Tots has been the industry leader in swimming instruction. We challenge the status quo in the swim industry, focusing on delivering top-quality swim lessons and providing our swimmers with Lessons for Life. Aqua-Tots Swim Schools offers year round, indoor swim lessons for children of all ages and abilities starting at 4 months. Aqua-Tots specializes in the following services: Small Group Swim Lessons (4:1 Ratio); Private Swim Lessons; Swim Club and Swim Team; Indoor Pool Parties; Adaptive Aquatics for Special Needs; Adult Swim Lessons.
Children's Services
Children's Services
Fitness & Gyms
Educational Products & Services
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Member since 2022

Boomers Parks

Boomers Parks is a privately held company based in Boca Raton, Florida. The company owns and operates 6 Boomers parks in California and Florida, Big Kahuna’s Water & Adventure Park in Florida and Big Kahuna’s Water Park in New Jersey. Boomers Parks was founded in 2014 to acquire and operate best-in-class out-of-home entertainment assets and is committed to excellence, to the communities they serve, and to delivering value that exceeds expectation.
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
Children's Services
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Discover Strength

At Discover Strength, we believe you should be able to build the career you want while doing work that changes lives. Imagine owning a distinguished fitness business, backed by a market-tested business model, where efficient, 30-minute workouts are provided to your clients by expert, educated personal trainers. Imagine building a thriving business while doing work that you love, with people you love.
Fitness & Gyms Fitness & Gyms
Fitness & Gyms
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Member since 2001

Gold's Gym

Build your legacy with the world’s most iconic and strongest fitness brand—Gold’s Gym. With over 96% brand awareness, Gold’s Gym sets the industry standard and continues to redefine strength training and fitness globally. Our legacy is unmatched, supported by a robust network of dedicated franchisees, all contributing to the strength of our brand. We offer franchisees multiple revenue streams, including membership, personal and group training, as well as clothing and supplement sales.
As we build strength for the future, our global presence spans 27 countries and is still expanding. Our contemporary redefinition of the brand focuses on strength and performance in every aspect, exemplified by our Berlin flagship location, which serves as an inspiration for the brand's future direction. This includes an outstanding personal training concept and a recently remodeled company gym featuring a state-of-the-art strength and functional training area that rivals the best college facilities.
Fitness & Gyms Fitness & Gyms
Fitness & Gyms
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
Health & Beauty
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Member since 2002

Pinch A Penny, Inc.

America's largest specialty retail swimming pool supply & services franchise with over 290 locations throughout AL, AZ, FL,GA, LA, NC, NV, OK, SC and TX.
Retail Stores: Specialty
Retail Stores: Specialty
Maintenance, Cleaning & Sanitation
Recreation: Equipment & Supplies
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Member since 2008

Sky Zone

First on the scene and best in its class, Sky Zone created the world's first wall-to-wall trampoline park in 2004, bringing healthy, high-flying fun to people across the globe. Now you can be part of this international sensation. See how fitness, entertainment, and interactive technology create a powerhouse of an opportunity. Sky Zone has over 300 global locations in 16 international markets, generating more than $300 million in revenue.
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
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Slick City

Slick City is the world’s first indoor slide and action sports park! Co-founded by a team of experienced family entertainment center operators and pioneering attraction designers, Slick City features a wide array of never-before-seen, stomach-dropping “waterless water slides”.

Our proprietary dry-slide technology (with over 25 patents filed or granted) is pushing the boundaries of physics and friction… and the all-ages appeal of our attractions is driving major park attendance!

Our first two corporate locations generated an average gross revenue of $385,000 per month and 47% EBITDA over their first 20 combined months of operations, and that success has inspired us to begin opening or developing a dozen more locations – and to officially begin franchising!

You can become part of a thriving and rapidly growing brand on the ground floor, with a unique, proprietary, and patented core product, an experienced franchise team, and a proven business model. Are you ready to join the Slick City movement? Read on to learn more:
Children's Services
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Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
Fitness & Gyms
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Member since 2017

Stretch Zone Franchising, LLC

Stretch Zone is the first and largest franchisor in the stretching industry, and the only company that combines a proprietary stretch method with patented strapping equipment to improve muscle function throughout the body. Stretch Zone practitioners are certified and trained to follow specific methods to properly position, stabilize, isolate and manipulate muscles using powerful principles of neuromuscular behavior to improve range of motion, enabling efficient and effortless movement. Founded by Jorden Gold in 2004, Stretch Zone now has 355 locations open across 41 states nationwide.
Health & Beauty
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Fitness & Gyms
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All Results

Member since 2003

i9 Sports

Based in Tampa, Florida, i9 Sports® is the nation’s first and largest youth sports league franchise business with more than 3 million player registrations spanning hundreds of communities from New York to Hawaii. Our franchise owners offer youth sports leagues, camps, and clinics for boys and girls ages 3 – 14 in today’s most popular sports such as flag football, soccer, basketball, baseball, lacrosse and volleyball.
Home-Based and/or Mobile
Children's Services
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
Fitness & Gyms
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Member since 2023

Structural Elements Franchising, LLC

Structural Elements® is an innovative franchise that approaches patient care with a holistic view of the human body. Focusing on the connective tissue matrix, the company has developed a proprietary method that promotes orthopedic wellness and overall health. Lasting results are achieved by reducing structural imbalances, improving connective tissue health, and re-educating movement.

With a two-tiered system, physicians, chiropractors, physical therapists, and others become Micro Franchisees, utilizing space and business support from Structural Elements® Unit Owners.

At Structural Elements®, we pride ourselves on our patient-centric model. We believe in fostering long-term patient relationships, which ensures a sustainable revenue model and underscores our commitment to ongoing health and well-being through regular maintenance visits.

Specialized Care: As leaders in treating the fascia and optimizing human movement, Structural Elements® serves a broad demographic, including professional athletes.

Cash Practice: Operating without insurance billing simplifies operations and increases profitability.
Health & Beauty
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MedSpa
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Member since 2015

Destination Athlete

Home-based business, leader in the team sports market. Since our beginning in 2008, the purpose of Destination Athlete® has been Building Better Communities Through Athletes®. We believe sports can bring people together and teams can achieve winning outcomes when all involved have confidence in knowing they have everything they need to succeed. We are committed to the complete satisfaction and success of our customers. Our motto: Everything Team, Everything Better® means we have the most comprehensive offering of Equipment, Apparel, Fundraising solutions and Performance products and services of any team dealer in the country. We are also home to 360 DEVELOPMENT™, a holistic, customizable development program led by a best-in-class team of experts in the areas of Leadership, Mental, Educational, and Wellness.
Home-Based and/or Mobile
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
Children's Services
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Member since 2023

Body20

Fitness Studios that maximizes your total body’s potential strength through our unique EMS Electronic Muscle Stimulation. Small studios where clients have one on one training with amazing results.
Fitness & Gyms Fitness & Gyms
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Member since 2013

Rockin' Jump

ROCKIN’ JUMP - The Ultimate Trampoline Park - is a family-friendly, indoor trampoline park with over 10,000 sq. ft. of trampolines in buildings averaging 20,000 sq. ft. Each park has arenas for open jumping, dodgeball, basketball, a giant foam pit, and private party rooms. We provide incredible fun and entertainment, as well as memorable birthday parties, for kids. However, our parks are built with adults in mind too. We offer free Wi-Fi, multiple TVs, a comfortable lounge area, cafés with baristas and an observation platform so adults who are not jumping can enjoy watching their kids jump.
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
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Fitness & Gyms
Children's Services
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Member since 2018

SwimLabs Swim School

A swim school using multiple small constant current pools, underwater cameras and a proprietary database of comparison instructional videos, SwimLabs uses technology to touch every market of the swimming community.
Children's Services
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Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
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Member since 2023

Innovative Sport Surfacing

Innovative Sport Surfacing is your Worldwide Turn-key Park and Playground company providing our customers with many Safety Surfacing options like Poured in Place Rubber, Bonded Rubber Mulch, and Artificial Turf. Innovative Sport Surfacing’s playground equipment, shade structures, shade canopies, water park equipment, spray pad equipment, and park amenities will exceed your expectations in Quality and with your Budget. With our highly trained staff, we can over see and schedule multiple projects maintaining quality customer service and integrity to meet our clients’ needs - Worldwide.
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
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Member since 2014

Snap Fitness, Inc.

Snap Fitness is a worldwide 24/7 gym franchise leader. With over 20 years in the industry, we provide our gym franchise owners with a strong support network that comes with a wealth of experience and in-market knowledge.

Owning your own gym franchise with Snap Fitness combines your passion for fitness with a fulfilling career on your terms.
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Member since 2024

Field Ops

FIELD OPS™ knows that great service goes a long way. Our franchise locations are all Veteran-owned and operated, meaning that your projects are in the hands of someone with a strong work ethic and dedication to helping others. Our turnaround times, “people first” attitude, and attention to detail cannot be matched.

Using industry-leading striping equipment and premium paints, our field markings withstand the elements and day-after-day of practices and games. It’s no wonder that universities, leagues, and tournaments nationwide enlist our help to maintain their fields. When you need an athletic field or sports court striped professionally, there’s no better team to turn to than FIELD OPS™.
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
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Member since 2012

British Swim School

British Swim School is a franchise dedicated to teaching water survival skills to individuals of every age and ability. British Swim School has leveraged a proven franchising model to become a leader in the $5 billion Learn to Swim School industry. This is a low investment and easily scalable model, with the added bonus of being a purpose-driven brand providing a life skill to your community. Backed by multi-brand franchisor, Buzz Franchise Brands - winner of Inc. 500, British Swim School helps franchisees dive in!
Children's Services
Children's Services
Recreation: Exercise/Sports Ent./Products
Educational Products & Services
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Member since 2022

ISI® Elite Training

ISI® Elite Training is boutique group fitness franchise offering a 50-minute, low-impact, high-intensity, strength-based workout. Each workout is designed and led by a certified coach giving you one-on-one attention within a team setting. We focus on simple, but dynamic movements that will help you burn fat, build muscle and gain both confidence and strength. Through functional movements, every ISI® Elite Training workout is designed to target different muscle groups, deliver measurable results and help you Train For Life.

ISI® is an excellent opportunity to make a career transition or to capture a passive income stream in the $32 billion dollar fitness industry. The average all-in investment is approximately $327,400-$687,000.
Fitness & Gyms Fitness & Gyms
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Bodystreet

Bodystreet: the revolutionary new way of shaping up
Gone are the days of spending hours in the gym each week. Bodystreet is an innovative workout studio that combines expert personal training with the buzz of Electro Muscle Stimulation (EMS). The result; a highly-effective exercise programme that enables you to get fit, tone up and build muscle - fast!
Fitness & Gyms Fitness & Gyms
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