F45 Training Franchise Cost & 2026 Reality Check

F45 Training: What 2026 Looks Like

F45 Training is the most cautionary tale in modern fitness franchising. The brand’s 45-minute functional-training class format was genuinely differentiated when it scaled in the late 2010s. The public-market collapse in 2022 was equally genuine and was driven by aggressive franchise-development growth projections that didn’t survive contact with operational reality. The brand has since been taken private, the leadership team replaced, and the system size reduced by roughly 35% in the US.

For a buyer evaluating F45 in 2026, the cost numbers are the easy part. The harder question is whether the brand has stabilized enough to be a credible first-franchise investment — or whether the operating risk still outweighs the unit economics on offer.

Item 7 reports total initial investment in the range of $277,000 to $378,000. The franchise fee is $50,000 with $40,000 development fees on additional units. Royalty is 7% of gross sales with a 2% marketing fund contribution, putting total franchisor-level cost at 9% of revenue. Net worth requirement is $500,000 with $150,000 in liquid capital.

The brand is currently owned by Kennedy Lewis Investment Management following the February 2024 take-private transaction at $4 per share. For broader context on what private-equity franchisor ownership means for buyers, see our PE-vs-founder-led franchisor risk guide.

The Story Since 2022

F45 went public in July 2021 at $16 per share, raising $325 million at a market cap of roughly $1.4 billion. The narrative at IPO was aggressive global franchise expansion — the brand projected adding 1,000+ studios annually for the next several years.

By July 2022 the narrative had unraveled. The board ousted founder-CEO Adam Gilchrist. The growth projections were withdrawn. The brand acknowledged that promised franchisee financing through a captive lender had not materialized as scaled. Studio openings stalled, and existing franchisees in territories that had been over-developed began closing.

By the end of 2022, the stock was trading below $2. Multiple shareholder lawsuits alleged misrepresentation of growth metrics. The company restructured operations, laid off corporate staff, and focused on stabilizing the existing franchisee base rather than aggressive new development.

In February 2024, Kennedy Lewis Investment Management and partners closed a take-private transaction at $4 per share, valuing the company at approximately $74 million — a 95% drop from its 2021 IPO valuation. The new ownership team has focused on:

• Resetting territory commitments and unwinding over-developed markets
• Replacing the IPO-era operating playbook with disciplined unit-economics underwriting
• Stabilizing studio-count attrition through enforcement of operating standards
• Refocusing on the core 45-minute group-training product without the expansion projections

Closures have continued through 2024-2025 as part of this stabilization, but the rate has slowed materially compared to 2022-2023.

Item 7: Where the Money Actually Goes

The $101K spread between low and high in Item 7 is mostly real estate cost and the size of the equipment package.

Line Item	Low	High
Initial franchise fee	$50,000	$50,000
Build-out / leasehold improvements	$60,000	$110,000
F45 equipment package	$80,000	$115,000
Computer, POS, AV system	$15,000	$25,000
Signage + interior fixtures	$10,000	$20,000
Pre-opening training + travel	$10,000	$18,000
Grand opening marketing	$15,000	$25,000
Working capital (3-6 months)	$30,000	$55,000
Real estate deposits + misc	$7,000	$20,000
Total Item 7 range	~$277,000	~$378,000

The equipment package is the line item that’s distinctive about F45. The brand’s class format requires a specific configuration of functional-training stations (kettlebells, battle ropes, plyo boxes, suspension trainers, etc.) with the AV system that delivers the workout-of-the-day content. The package is non-negotiable and not user-customizable — you buy what the brand specifies.

Item 19: What’s Reported vs What the Closure Rate Says

The 2026 FDD reports Item 19 average gross revenue around $480,000-$540,000 for mature US studios. That’s the headline number most prospective buyers latch onto. The harder number to model is the survivor bias in that average.

That reported average is calculated across studios that were still open at the reporting cutoff. Closed studios — about 35% of the system since 2022 — don’t appear in the 2026 average revenue figure. That’s not a deception; it’s standard FDD reporting practice. But it means a 2026 buyer is reading an average that excludes the underperformer cohort entirely. For the full framework on this bias, see our Item 19 average-vs-median survivorship-bias guide.

Implication for underwriting: model against bottom-quartile performance, not the headline average. If the brand discloses a bottom-quartile median, anchor there. If it doesn’t, ask the franchisee development rep for it directly — and weigh the response. A brand confident in its current operating performance will share quartile data. A brand that pushes back on quartile disclosure is signaling something.

Group-Training Class Economics

F45 studios operate on a class-based recurring-membership model. Typical pricing is $179-$249/month for unlimited classes, with single-class drop-in rates around $25-$35. Studio capacity is bound by class size (typically 27-36 members per class), class frequency (10-15 classes per day in mature markets), and instructor availability.

Active Members	Monthly Revenue	Annualized
100	$20,000	$240,000
200 (typical breakeven)	$40,000	$480,000
280 (mature healthy)	$56,000	$672,000
350+ (top-quartile)	$70,000+	$840,000+

Mature studios typically run 220-300 active members. Above 300 the constraint shifts from acquisition to retention and class-capacity management. Below 200 the model usually loses money.

Member acquisition cost has been the brand’s binding challenge since 2022. The IPO-era promise of national brand marketing supporting local franchisees has substantially shrunk under the new ownership team. New 2026 buyers should budget meaningfully more than the 2% national marketing fund implies for local-market member acquisition.

Who Should Still Consider F45 in 2026

The brand has a narrow profile of buyers it works for, and a much wider profile it doesn’t.

Could still work for: Buyers with prior fitness-industry experience (former boutique-studio operators, personal trainers transitioning to ownership, gym-management professionals). Buyers acquiring an existing resale studio at a reset valuation (often 1.5-2x SDE in current market vs the 3-4x of 2021). Multi-unit operators in proven F45-friendly markets who can negotiate development terms with new ownership reflecting post-collapse risk. Buyers who have validated 30+ existing F45 franchisees in their target metro and have a clear-eyed view of the operating dynamics.

Doesn’t work for: First-time franchise buyers without fitness-industry background. Absentee investors expecting passive returns. Buyers in markets that were over-developed in 2020-2022 — territory dynamics there are still working through closures. Buyers using F45 as a “first try” before committing to fitness as a category — the operating risk is materially higher than alternatives like Anytime Fitness for that buyer profile.

The VetMyFranchise quiz screens specifically for fitness-industry fit and capital level.

Red Flags Specific to F45 Diligence

These are the FDD items that warrant heavier-than-usual attention for F45:

1. Item 3 litigation history. F45 has carried meaningful litigation through the post-2022 period, including shareholder suits and franchisee disputes. Read the litigation summary fully and understand what’s been settled vs ongoing.
2. Item 20 outlet performance and closures. The multi-year closure trend is the most important diligence data point for F45 specifically. Pull the table by year and look at net change in studio count.
3. Item 21 financial statements. Read the franchisor’s financials. Post-take-private operations should be cleaner, but the prior public-company filings show the operational pressure points.
4. Item 17 termination and territory. Under new ownership the standards-enforcement is tighter. Have your attorney review the termination triggers and cure periods. For the broader framework, see our non-compete clause negotiation guide.
5. Validation calls with 10+ existing franchisees. This is double the usual validation-call count for a reason — the brand’s operating dispersion is wide enough that 5 calls won’t give you a representative read. Push specifically for opinions from operators who have been through the 2022-2024 ownership transition.

The Questions to Ask the Franchisor Specifically

If you’re sitting across from an F45 development representative in 2026, push on these questions and weigh how directly each is answered:

• What is the median (not average) studio revenue across US units that have been open for 36+ months?
• How many studios have closed in the past 24 months, and what was the primary reason cluster?
• What changes has new ownership made to franchisee marketing support since 2024?
• What is the current opening-to-closure ratio for the past 12 months?
• What is the average sale price for resale studios in 2026 vs 2022?

A franchisor confident in current operations answers these directly. A franchisor still working through stabilization deflects or hedges. Weigh the response style as much as the content.

The $49 VetMyFranchise Research Report decodes the current F45 FDD line-by-line, including the Item 19 average reset, Item 20 closure analytics, and the clauses your attorney should flag before signing. Get the F45 diligence report →

F45 vs the Field

For buyers comparing F45 against other boutique fitness franchises:

Brand	Investment	Royalty	2026 Status
F45 Training	$277K-$378K	7% + 2% ad	Private (Kennedy Lewis), 35% unit contraction since 2022
OrangeTheory Fitness	$608K-$1.4M	8% + 4% ad	Private (Roark Capital), stable
Club Pilates	$260K-$525K	7% + 2% ad	Private (Xponential), expanding
Pure Barre	$258K-$485K	7% + 2% ad	Private (Xponential), stable

The structural distinction: F45 carries materially more operational uncertainty than these alternatives. For buyers seriously evaluating the boutique fitness category, the $99 3-Pack Comparison gives you full 12-section reports on three boutique fitness brands — F45 included if you want it — for $33 per brand. That comparison structure is the cheapest credible way to see whether F45’s recovery is real for your specific market or whether a lower-risk alternative makes more sense.