F45 Training Item 19: $407K median across 699 franchised studios for March 2024-Feb 2025. Why the median is lower than expected, year-one ramp, and what the post-restructuring brand looks like.
Quick answer: F45’s Item 19 reports a $407K median across 699 franchised studios — March 2024 through February 2025. The disclosed median is materially below the brand’s pre-IPO marketing positioning. The reasons are structural: post-restructuring operating reality, boutique-fitness pricing pressure, programming variance, and category competition. F45 can work for the right operator profile, but the underwriting baseline has shifted.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 699 franchised studios |
| Sample criteria | All franchised studios (no tenure filter) |
| Reporting period | March 1, 2024 - February 28, 2025 |
| Median annual gross sales | $407,220 |
| Total system units | 708 |
| Total investment (Item 7) | $349,200 - $786,100 |
| Royalty rate | 7% of gross sales |
The 699-studio sample covers nearly the entire franchised system (708 total) and the reporting period is recent (through February 2025). No tenure filter is applied — the disclosed median includes both mature studios and recent openings, which produces the most representative figure for the franchised reality but doesn’t isolate steady-state performance.
F45 went public in 2021 with a marketing narrative positioning the brand as a high-growth category leader with implied unit economics consistent with premium boutique fitness. Post-IPO, the company faced operational turbulence: leadership changes, restructuring, accounting investigations, and a delisting from the NYSE in 2024.
The current Item 19 reflects post-restructuring operating reality. The $407K median is what the franchised system actually produces. It’s not catastrophic — at standard fitness-franchise cost structure, a studio at $407K can be profitable for an operator running lean — but it’s materially below what the pre-IPO narrative suggested.
Three structural factors compress the median:
Programming variance. F45’s signature feature is varied workout programming — different sessions throughout the week drawn from circuit training, HIIT, and functional fitness templates. The variance creates marketing differentiation but operational complexity. Trainers need to learn multiple workouts, equipment layouts shift, and member experience varies across instructors and sessions. The result is more revenue variance across studios than in standardized programs.
Category pricing pressure. Post-COVID boutique fitness has been under pricing pressure. Premium boutique pricing peaked at $130-$200/month in 2019; the market has anchored toward the lower end of that range as new low-cost competitors (high-tier Planet Fitness, Crunch Signature, lower-cost boutique alternatives) reset consumer expectations. F45 hasn’t been immune to that pressure.
Brand momentum. A franchise system rebuilding trust after public turbulence has lower brand-driven member acquisition tailwind than systems with continuous positive momentum. F45 has stabilized operationally but is still rebuilding the consumer narrative.
| Brand | Sample | Median AUV | Investment | AUV/Investment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orangetheory | 1,256 | $808K | $822K-$1.38M | 0.7× |
| F45 Training | 699 | $407K | $349K-$786K | 0.7× |
| Burn Boot Camp | smaller | $500K-$900K range | $250K-$500K | 1.5× |
| Anytime Fitness | larger | $400K-$600K | $200K-$500K | 1.7× |
| Club Pilates | larger | $500K-$800K | $200K-$500K | 2× |
Orangetheory and F45 both produce AUV-to-investment ratios around 0.7× — tight by historical franchise standards. The difference is absolute AUV: Orangetheory’s $808K is approaching what the broader market expects from a fully-ramped premium boutique studio; F45’s $407K is below that range.
For a buyer comparing the two, the structural choice is brand stability and standardization (Orangetheory) versus lower entry cost and operator-driven upside (F45). Neither is automatically better — the right choice depends on operator profile, capital availability, and market dynamics.
For broader category context, see our F45 vs Orangetheory comparison and the Burn Boot Camp deep dive for the women-focused alternative. The is F45 a good franchise 2026 analysis covers the brand decision more broadly.
A new F45 studio in months 1-12 typically generates:
That’s right at or just below the system median. The Item 19’s no-filter methodology means some of these ramp-stage studios are already in the disclosed median — which is partly why the median sits where it does.
A buyer underwriting against the median needs to model year-one carefully. The studio doesn’t reach $407K overnight; the disclosed number is what an averaged-across-tenure studio earns. Mature studios run materially above; new studios run materially below. Operating margins at $400K revenue against $400K of fixed annual cost (rent, base labor, royalty, ad fund, equipment leases) are thin.
For brand-specific cost detail, see the live F45 Training franchise page. For the broader category competitive set, best fitness franchises under 200K covers the lower-investment alternatives and best personal training boot camp franchises covers the broader boutique-fitness landscape.
F45 Training's most recent Item 19 reports a $407,220 median annual gross sales across 699 franchised studios for the reporting period March 1, 2024 through February 28, 2025.
F45's pre-IPO marketing (2019-2021) positioned the brand as a category leader with implied unit economics that haven't materialized at scale. The current $407K median reflects post-IPO, post-restructuring operating reality. Several factors compressed AUVs: corporate turbulence in 2022-2023, programming variance across studios, post-COVID boutique-fitness pricing pressure, and increased competition from lower-priced fitness alternatives.
Orangetheory's most recent Item 19 reports a $808K median across 1,256 studios — nearly 2× F45's median. The gap reflects programming standardization (Orangetheory's identical workout system vs F45's varied programming), brand stability (Orangetheory's continuous operating system vs F45's recent restructuring), and member dues capture per studio.
F45 can produce viable unit economics for the right operator profile — but the deal is meaningfully different from the pre-IPO investment thesis. The brand requires lower-cost markets, strong operator presence, and realistic AUV underwriting (against the $407K median, not against pre-IPO marketing). Multi-unit operators who can operate at lean-overhead scale tend to do better than first-time single-unit buyers.
Item 7 reports a total initial investment range of $349,200 to $786,100. Royalty is 7% of gross sales. The investment is lower than Orangetheory ($822K-$1.38M) but higher than entry-tier fitness franchises ($200K-$400K).
This page is part of VetMyFranchise. View all pages: llms.txt · llms-full.txt