Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas
Bottom line
- Total investment $5.0M – $16.1M including a $125K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 73/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 1 loans (below the industry average).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
1%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate premium cinema venues featuring reserved seating, in-theater dining/bar service, and curated film programming (indie, classic, event cinema). Day-to-day operations include theater management, concession and food service operations, customer service, event booking, and staff training—with significant food and beverage complexity beyond traditional movie theaters.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 4 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Alamo Drafthouse's going concern status, lack of financial disclosure, stagnant unit count, and history of corporate bankruptcy create substantial risk that the franchisor may not survive to support franchisees through the 10-year term.
Score breakdown · what drove the 73 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status indicates financial distress at corporate level and raises sustainability questions
- 02MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure prevents realistic ROI analysis and benchmarking
- 03MINOROnly 38 units with unknown growth trajectory suggests stagnation or contraction in franchise system
- 04MINORHigh capital requirement ($5M–$16M) combined with no financial performance data creates extreme uncertainty
- 05MINOR5% royalty on gross (not net) sales means fees are owed regardless of profitability
- 06HIGHNo disclosed litigation history raises questions about transparency; prior Alamo Drafthouse bankruptcies (2020, 2022) suggest operational/financial vulnerability
- 07MINOR10-year term locks franchisees into relationship with financially unstable franchisor
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
5 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas · FDD (2023) PDF