Arthur Murray Dance Studio Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Arthur Murray Dance Studio is a franchise teaching ballroom, Latin, and social dance to adults through private and group lessons. Franchisees run a studio managing instructors, lesson packages, and social events.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Arthur Murray Dance Studio franchise requires a total initial investment of $71K – $252K, including a $25K – $100K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $716K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 5.9% charge-off rate across 17 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $71K – $252K
- 22nd pct Education
- Avg gross sales
- $716K
- 24th pct Education
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 44th pct Education
- Units
- 237
- 73rd pct Education
- SBA charge-off
- 5.9%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Education · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Education avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $71K – $252K including a $25K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $716K/year (median $634K).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 95/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 5.9% across 17 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Arthur Murray International, Inc.
- Parent company
- AMII Acquisition, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- Clarion Capital Partners, LLC (indirect controller)
- Predecessor
- Arthur Murray, Inc. (original name until December 31, 1979)
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer and Director
- Gary Edwards
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 1077 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables, Florida 33134
- Auditor
- Templeton
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $16.9M
- vs $8.8M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Gary Edwards
- Headquarters
- FL
- Founded
- 1946
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 34
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 76% below the typical education franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $25K | $25K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $0 | $20K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $46K | $207K |
| Total initial investment | $71K | $252K |
Source: Arthur Murray Dance Studio 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $71K – $252K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $0 – $20K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K – $100K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- Tiered by sales volume · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $150 |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 17% below the education norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Arthur Murray Dance Studio until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$172K
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Arthur Murray Dance Studio unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $716K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $634K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross receipts
- Sample size
- 216 outlets
- vs category median 16 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $72K→$2.1M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $303K→$1.3M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 204 Education brands
Revenue is 4.4x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $716K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 4.4x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.0% — below the Education average of 10.5%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 5.3% CAGR over 3 years across 237 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Education averages
How Arthur Murray Dance Studio Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 237
- Opened
- 11
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Terminated
- 1
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 1.7%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +5.3%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +5.3%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 27
- Closed (3yr)
- 6
- Terminated (3yr)
- 1
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 28
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 33 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 contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- California
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- New York
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 17
- Loan volume
- $2.2M
- Median loan
- $80K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 5.9%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 94.1%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 14
- Defaults
- 1
- Typical loan rate
- 5.4%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 8.5%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 102
- 4.7 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 18%
- top lender's share
Franchise vs independent — in fine arts schools, franchised businesses charge off at 8.5% vs 14.1% for independents — franchising is associated with 40% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Top lenders financing Arthur Murray Dance Studio franchisees
Showing 3 of 14 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Arthur Murray Dance Studio's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 11 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 12-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 5.9% — 63% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Aging brand with regulatory baggage, opaque profitability metrics, stagnant unit growth, and recent franchisee disputes creates elevated risk despite protected territory.
Litigation (Item 3)
Arthur Murray International v. Gisella West et al. (AAA Case No. 01-24-0004-5787): demand for arbitration filed April 2024 against former franchisee for unpaid royalties and injunctive relief; consent award entered September 2024. FTC Consent Decree (Docket 7845, amended 1980) requires specific student cancellation rights and disclosures.
Largest disclosed settlement: $1,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Templeton
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Fiscal year end changed from June 30 to December 31 after the Dec 4, 2024 AMII Acquisition. The most recent audited period (yr1) is the Successor stub period from Dec 4, 2024 (Inception) through Dec 31, 2024 only (~28 days): total revenue $1,361,728, net income $501,344. The June 30, 2024 fiscal-year figures ($16,879,800 total revenue, $3,113,700 net income) are Predecessor full-year results and are used here as yr2. A separate Predecessor stub period (July 1, 2024 - Dec 3, 2024) had total revenue $7,585,328 and net income $727,824. Balance sheet figures (assets/liabilities/equity) are as of Dec 31, 2024 (Successor) and reflect purchase accounting from the acquisition (goodwill $19,342,214, intangibles $26,974,715, debt $27,900,074).
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 95 / 100 verdict
- 01MINOR1980 FTC Consent Decree still active — indicates ongoing regulatory scrutiny for unfair/deceptive practices in sales and contracts
- 02MEDNo Item 19 (Average Net Income) disclosed — cannot verify profitability claims; $715K avg revenue without net income transparency is concerning
- 03MEDDeclining unit count (237 units, only 3.0% YoY growth) — suggests market saturation, franchisee struggles, or brand decline
- 04MINORRecent 2024 arbitration filing against Honolulu franchisee for unpaid royalties — signals enforcement issues and potential franchisee financial distress
- 05MINORHigh royalty burden (5-10% of weekly gross) on dance studio margins — may compress profitability significantly
- 06MED5-year term with no disclosed renewal rates or franchise failure data — unclear exit strategy for underperforming locations
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 7.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 5 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 100,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 15 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Coral Gables, Florida |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | FL |
| Litigation count | 1 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Arthur Murray International v. Gisella West et al. (AAA Case No. 01-24-0004-5787): demand for arbitration filed April 2024 against former franchisee for unpaid royalties and injunctive relief; consent award entered September 2024. FTC Consent Decree (Docket 7845, amended 1980) requires specific student cancellation rights and disclosures.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 15 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 80 hrs
- Training location
- Coral Gables, Florida (or other agreed upon location)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 3 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects; franchisor must approve location
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Agenda Master Software
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Agenda Master Software
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
236 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Arthur Murray Dance Studio · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Arthur Murray Dance Studio franchise?
The total investment to open a Arthur Murray Dance Studio franchise ranges from $71K – $252K, with an initial franchise fee of $25K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Arthur Murray Dance Studio franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Arthur Murray Dance Studio FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $716K. The median is $634K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Arthur Murray Dance Studio FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Arthur Murray Dance Studio FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Arthur Murray Dance Studio's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Arthur Murray Dance Studio has a charge-off rate of 5.9% across 17 loans, meaning 5.9% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Arthur Murray Dance Studio franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Arthur Murray Dance Studio has 237 total units in the United States, including 237 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 11 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Arthur Murray Dance Studio a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Arthur Murray Dance Studio as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 95 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.