Sport Clips
Bottom line
- Total investment $237K – $581K including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $419K/year (median $416K). Estimated payback in 2.9 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 47/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 322 loans (below the industry average).
- Established system with 1,788 units across 31 years of franchising — strong brand recognition and operational playbook.
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 Sport Clips unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
18%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Sport Clips units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.0M
on $5.0M purchase
Total debt
$4.0M
SBA $2.5M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Sport Clips franchisees operate men's hair salon locations offering haircuts, styling, and grooming services targeting male clientele. Day-to-day operations include managing 5-15 stylists, scheduling appointments, inventory management for products, maintaining clean/branded facilities, and driving customer acquisition through local marketing while adhering to corporate brand standards and service protocols.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 18 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
Sport Clips presents moderate-to-cautious risk due to declining unit economics, lack of financial disclosure standards, and whether franchisee returns justify the substantial capital investment in a contracting system.
Score breakdown · what drove the 47 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 1.7% YoY suggests system contraction and potential market saturation
- 02MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representation limits transparency on actual franchisee profitability claims
- 03MINORHigh initial investment range ($236.8K-$580.5K) with modest average net income ($139.9K) yields concerning 1.7-4.1 year payback period
- 04MINOR6% royalty on $419.5K average revenue extracts ~$25.2K annually, reducing already-thin margins in service business
- 05MINOR5-year term is relatively short for franchise model requiring consistent customer base development
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Sport Clips · FDD (2026) PDF