Port of Subs Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Port of Subs is a fast-casual franchise serving made-to-order submarine sandwiches. Franchisees run the shops, managing food prep, staffing, and counter service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Port of Subs franchise requires a total initial investment of $420K – $857K, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $552K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 15.7% charge-off rate across 61 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $420K – $857K
- 68th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $552K
- 4th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 46th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 126
- 79th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- 15.7%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants 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 $420K – $857K including a $25K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $552K/year (median $512K).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 56/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 15.7% across 61 loans (above 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
- POS Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- POS Holdings, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- Area 15 Ventures, LLC
- Predecessor
- Port of Subs, Inc.
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer & Director
- Adam Contos
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 480 East Happy Canyon Road, Castle Rock, CO 80108
- Auditor
- Plante & Moran, PLLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $4.6M
- vs $3.5M prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Adam Contos
- Headquarters
- CO
- Founded
- 1972
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 2
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost is about average for a quick-service restaurants 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) | $15K | $25K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $380K | $807K |
| Total initial investment | $420K | $857K |
Source: Port of Subs 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
- $420K – $857K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K – $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 0.1%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $0 |
| Training fee | $5K |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $6K |
| Inventory (initial) | $10K – $25K |
| Total fee load | 0.1% of rev |
A 0.1% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 54% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$83K
15.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
13%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
8.0 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
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. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Port of Subs unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
13%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
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%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Port of Subs units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$882K
on $4.4M purchase
Total debt
$3.5M
SBA $2.2M + senior + seller note
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
- $552K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $512K
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 sales
- Sample size
- 87 outlets
- vs category median 20 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $143K→$1.2M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $325K→$857K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 0 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · below
Compared against 782 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.9x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
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 $552K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.9x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 0.1% — below the Quick-Service Restaurants average of 7.9%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 0/10 — minimal disclosure beyond the required average. Hard to judge the distribution of outcomes across units.
Operator retention
System roughly stable (+1.7% 3-year CAGR) with 126 units.
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 Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Port of Subs Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 126
- Opened
- 2
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- 2.5%
- Company-owned
- 7
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 94%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +1.7%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +1.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 8
- Closed (3yr)
- 2
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 1
- Transfers (3yr)
- 9
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 8 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 61
- Loan volume
- $9.8M
- Median loan
- $125K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 15.7%
- 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)
- 84.3%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 34
- Defaults
- 8
- Typical loan rate
- 8.1%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 21.5%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 273
- 2.8 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 16%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 83% went to startups / new businesses, 17% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in limited-service restaurants, franchised businesses charge off at 21.5% vs 25.0% for independents — franchising is associated with 14% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
Port of Subs charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Port of Subs franchisees
Showing 3 of 34 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 Port of Subs'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 8 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 26-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans here charge off near the 16.0% national average.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
This franchise shows critical distress signals: a two-unit system with no financial disclosures, questionable going concern status, and high upfront fees suggesting a franchisor dependent on franchise sales rather than unit profitability.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Plante & Moran, PLLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 verdict
- 01MINOROnly 2 units operating — indicates either brand collapse, recent launch, or severe underperformance; impossible to validate system viability
- 02MINORNo Item 19 financial disclosure (avg revenue/net income) — prevents ROI validation and suggests franchisor may have poor unit economics to hide
- 03HIGHGoing Concern = False — franchisor may be insolvent or facing liquidation risk; franchisees' support infrastructure at serious risk
- 04MINORHigh franchise fee ($125k) relative to system size — indicates franchisor dependent on franchise fees rather than royalties from healthy operating units
- 05MINORRoyalty rate unknown — red flag for transparency; unable to assess ongoing cost burden or franchisor's incentive alignment
- 06MINOR10-year term with only 2 units — territory protection meaningless if system is failing; suggests franchisor cannot attract/retain franchisees
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 0.1% 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 | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 50,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 2 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Denver, Colorado metropolitan area |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | CO |
| Litigation count | 0 |
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 25 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 198 hrs
- Training location
- Reno, Nevada; Denver, Colorado metropolitan area; or other designated location; plus on-site at franchise location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
15 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Port of Subs · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Port of Subs franchise?
The total investment to open a Port of Subs franchise ranges from $420K – $857K, 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 Port of Subs franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Port of Subs FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $552K. The median is $512K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Port of Subs 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 Port of Subs FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Port of Subs's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Port of Subs has a charge-off rate of 15.7% across 61 loans, meaning 15.7% 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 Port of Subs franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Port of Subs has 126 total units in the United States, including 119 franchised units and 7 company-owned units. 2 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Port of Subs a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Port of Subs as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 56 out of 100 (higher is better), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Port of Subs, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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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.