Ambrosio’s Take
Buffalo Wild Wings is a sports bar franchise built around wings, beer, and televised sports, and it is an established, large-scale system. In 2025, the 532 franchised sports bars that operated all year averaged $3,574,130 in unit volume, with a median of $3,433,937, against a total initial investment of $2,896,445 to $4,900,320 for a new freestanding location. The average rose only 0.2% from $3,567,504 in 2024, and the top quartile averaged $5,079,519 against $2,322,326 for the bottom quartile, a spread that reflects site, territory, and local market fit more than anything about the brand itself. The system is also changing shape, because franchised outlets grew by 11 in 2025 while company-owned outlets fell by 16 to 629. With the median sitting below the average and the bottom quartile averaging less than the low end of the initial investment, the median is the more grounded figure to anchor expectations to, and because Item 19 reports unit volume only, with no cost or profit figures, what a sports bar at a given volume actually earns after a build of this size is worth exploring with current franchisees in comparable markets.
Ambrosio’s Take appears on all Franchise Chatter FDD Talk posts based on the 2026 FDD.
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Section I – Estimated initial investment (franchise costs) for a Buffalo Wild Wings franchise, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2026 FDD
Section II – Initial franchise fee, royalty fee, and marketing fee for a Buffalo Wild Wings franchise, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2026 FDD
Section III – Number of franchised and company-owned Buffalo Wild Wings outlets at the start of the year and the end of the year for 2023, 2024, and 2025, based on Item 20 of the company’s 2026 FDD
Section IV – News updates on the Buffalo Wild Wings franchise opportunity
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- 2025 average, median, highest, and lowest unit volume for the first quartile, second quartile, third quartile, fourth quartile, and all 532 Buffalo Wild Wings sports bars that operated during the franchisor’s entire 2025 fiscal year from December 30, 2024 through December 28, 2025, four of which operated at non-traditional locations
Section VI – Key ratios, comparables, computations, and analyses for the Buffalo Wild Wings franchise opportunity (exclusive content for Platinum subscribers)
Section I – Buffalo Wild Wings Franchise Costs
- Buffalo Wild Wings franchise costs (new freestanding and non-traditional locations), based on Item 7 of the company’s 2026 FDD:
- Fees Related to Site Approval: $1,200 to $53,800
- Initial Franchise Fee: $12,500 to $25,000
- Reimbursement of Expenses and Administrative Fee for Onsite Training: $0 to $105,000
- Architecture Fees (based upon utilization of national firm): $100,000 to $160,000
- Construction and Leasehold Improvements: $1,430,000 to $2,100,000
- Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment, and Other Fixed Assets: $775,000 to $925,000
- Audio/Visual Equipment: $275,000 to $425,000
- Computer POS System/Kitchen Display Unit: $28,245 to $50,520
- Office Equipment and Supplies: $6,000 to $13,000
- Decor Package: $12,500 to $26,500
- Signage and Graphics (excluding pylon or monument signage): $43,000 to $100,000
- Training Expenses: $15,000 to $40,000
- Initial Inventory: $18,000 to $36,000
- Insurance: $25,000 to $48,000
- Additional Funds for 3 Months: $100,000 to $150,000
- Rent: $7,500 to $40,000
- Lease and Utility Security Deposits: $10,000 to $20,000
- Grand Opening Advertising: $12,500
- Liquor License: $5,000 to $500,000
- Professional Fees: $20,000 to $70,000
- Total Estimated Buffalo Wild Wings Franchise Costs: $2,896,445 to $4,900,320
Section II – Buffalo Wild Wings’ Initial Franchise Fee, Royalty Fee, and Marketing Fee
- Buffalo Wild Wings’ initial franchise fee, royalty fee, and marketing fee, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2026 FDD:
- Initial Franchise Fee: $12,500 to $25,000
- Royalty Fee: 5% of Gross Sales, subject to applicable incentive program
- Advertising Fee: 4% of Gross Sales and 2% of Gross Sales for Non-Traditional Locations
- Co-op or Local Marketing Group (LMG) Contribution: at least 0.25% of Gross Sales
Section III – Number of Franchised and Company-Owned Buffalo Wild Wings Outlets
Franchised
2023
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 530
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 533
- Net Change: +3
2024
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 533
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 538
- Net Change: +5
2025
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- Outlets at the End of the Year: 549
- Net Change: +11
Company-Owned
2023
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 659
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 652
- Net Change: -7
2024
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 652
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 645
- Net Change: -7
2025
- Outlets at the Start of the Year: 645
- Outlets at the End of the Year: 629
- Net Change: -16
Section IV – News Updates on the Buffalo Wild Wings Franchise
Section V – Financial Performance Representations (Average Revenues and/or Profits) for the Buffalo Wild Wings Franchise (Item 19, 2026 FDD)
- These financial performance representations provide actual, historical “AUVs,” or “Annual Unit Volumes,” for specific groups of franchised Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars. “Unit Volume” has the same meaning as Gross Sales, which the franchisor defines in the note below.
- This Item 19 includes financial information for the franchisor’s 2025 fiscal year (which the franchisor will call simply “2025” in this Item 19), which is the period from December 30, 2024 until December 28, 2025.
- There were 549 franchised Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars operating in the United States at the end of 2025, 4 of which operated at Non-Traditional Locations.
- The franchisor excluded from these financial performance representations: (a) all 15 of the franchised Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars that first opened for business during 2025 and did not operate for the full year; and (b) all 2 franchised Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars that were closed and reported no sales for extended periods during 2025, often for more than a month, either as part of remodeling or rebuilding the Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bar, due to a hurricane or weather-related casualty or fire/water damage, or because of a relocation or planned transfer.
- The financial performance representations in this Item 19 provide AUVs during 2025 for the remaining 532 franchised Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars (called the “2025 Franchised Sports Bars”), 4 of which operated at Non-Traditional Locations.
- The franchisor also excluded from these financial performance representations (a) the 4 franchised Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars that closed in 2025, all of which were open for at least 12 months before they closed, and (b) all company-owned Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars that the franchisor or its affiliates operated as of the end of 2025. None of the 2025 Franchised Sports Bars operated from a Multi-Brand Location.
- The 2025 Franchised Sports Bars typically range in size from 4,000 to 10,000 square feet, although there are some atypical sports bars with sizes that fall outside this range. The 2025 Franchised Sports Bars are located across the country and in a variety of urban, suburban, and rural locations and in varied markets with wide-ranging levels of competition.
- The 2025 Franchised Sports Bars have operated for an average of 15.1 years.
- This financial performance representation reflects the AUVs for the 2025 Franchised Sports Bars, both overall and as grouped into quartiles (categories of 25%) based on their AUVs.
Annual Unit Volumes for 2025 Franchised Sports Bars
1st Quartile
- Number of Sports Bars: 133
- Highest AUV: $8,127,592
- Median AUV: $4,875,869
- Lowest AUV: $4,190,190
- Average AUV: $5,079,519
- Number and Percentage Above Average: 54 / 40.6%
2nd Quartile
- Number of Sports Bars: 133
- Highest AUV: $4,187,367
- Median AUV: $3,808,881
- Lowest AUV: $3,436,218
- Average AUV: $3,799,484
- Number and Percentage Above Average: 69 / 51.8%
3rd Quartile
- Number of Sports Bars: 133
- Highest AUV: $3,431,655
- Median AUV: $3,117,110
- Lowest AUV: $2,780,123
- Average AUV: $3,095,189
- Number and Percentage Above Average: 70 / 52.6%
4th Quartile
- Number of Sports Bars: 133
- Highest AUV: $2,759,253
- Median AUV: $2,371,905
- Lowest AUV: $1,352,618
- Average AUV: $2,322,326
- Number and Percentage Above Average: 72 / 54.1%
All Sports Bars
- Number of Sports Bars: 532
- Highest AUV: $8,127,592
- Median AUV: $3,433,937
- Lowest AUV: $1,352,618
- Average AUV: $3,574,130
- Number and Percentage Above Average: 240 / 45.1%
- “AUV” or “Annual Unit Volume” for a 2025 Franchised Sports Bar is the same as annual Gross Sales, which means the total revenues and receipts from the sale of all products, services, and merchandise sold in or in relation to the Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bar whether under any of the Trademarks or otherwise, including any cover charges or fees, fees or charges for any vending or similar activities or other equipment in the Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bar or on its premises, fees or charges for any catering and other off-site activities and events, all license and use fees, and implied or imputed Gross Sales from any business interruption insurance. However, Gross Sales excludes sales taxes, promotions, voids, and discounts.
- The franchisor obtains the AUVs for franchised Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars from sales reports that franchisees submit to it and from data that it collected from franchisees’ POS systems. The franchisor has not independently audited that information.
- The 2025 Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars offer essentially the same products and services, face the same kinds of competitive challenges, and receive the same level of support from the franchisor that it expects new franchisees will experience.
- These financial performance representations do not reflect the costs of sales, operating expenses, or other costs or expenses that must be deducted from the AUV figures to obtain your net income or profit.
- Some outlets have sold this amount. Your individual results may differ. There is no assurance that you’ll sell as much.
Section VI – Buffalo Wild Wings Franchise Ratios, Comparables, Computations, and Analyses (Exclusive Content for Platinum Subscribers) ⬇️
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