🍟 8/29/2024 – The nation’s most popular sport keeps growing
FRANCHISE OF THE WEEK
Soccer Stars
Fast Facts
Background
- HQ: Budd Lake, NJ
- Founded in 2000, franchising since 2022
- Soccer Stars is a franchise that specializes in sports education and physical fitness programs to children.
Location Trends
Franchise Fees
- Royalty: 8%
- Brand Fund: $200/m
- Franchise Fee: $49,500
Financial Overview
- The below table discloses information on corporate owned locations that were open and operating for the calendar year of 2022.
The Wolf’s Take 🍟
Soccer’s popularity has skyrocketed in the U.S. over the last decade, and Soccer Stars is riding that wave. In my view, this franchise offers a chance to dive into a growing market with in-demand children’s soccer programs. Let’s get into it:
Soccer Stars already has a big footprint, operating in over 25 major markets and enrolling more than 110,000 children annually. They target a pretty broad age range from toddlers to pre-teens, which means kids can grow with the program year after year.
The infrastructure is bigger than it looks, too: it’s part of a family of franchise brands called Youth Athletes United, where it lives alongside Amazing Athletes and TGA (Tennis, Golf, and Athletics), each of which are showing really interesting momentum. Especially interesting to me is their tech capabilities, which they upgraded in 2023, and which seems to offer a seamless interface to incorporate a growing set of programs all in one place—a big deal, especially if you’re new to the franchise game.
The initial franchise fee of $49,500 is on par with many entry-level franchises, and the ongoing costs, including an 8% royalty and a $200 monthly brand fund contribution, are reasonable considering the potential returns from a growing sector like children’s soccer.
With 60 new units and 44 new owners in 2023 alone, the expansion trajectory looks promising for new franchisees looking to invest. And with soccer the fastest-growing professional sport in the country (not to mention the World Cup coming our way in 2026), it feels like sign-ups will only keep trending up. ⚽️🥅
Resources
