The Rock Underground
Bottom line
- Total investment $71K – $188K including a $25K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 60/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 1 loans (below the industry average).
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
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 The Rock Underground unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
83%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
The Rock Underground operates climbing gyms or underground fitness/adventure facilities where franchisees manage day-to-day climbing instruction, equipment maintenance, membership sales, and facility operations. Franchisees hire staff, schedule classes, maintain safety protocols, and drive local marketing to build recurring revenue from memberships and day-pass customers.
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 12 · 1 state reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
1
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
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
Nascent franchise with critical financial transparency gaps and insufficient unit base to validate unit economics or system viability.
Score breakdown · what drove the 60 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosed (Item 19 missing) — impossible to assess ROI on $70.5k–$187.6k investment
- 02MEDOnly 6 total units with 33.3% YoY growth is extremely small system size — limited peer data and high systemic fragility
- 03MED6% royalty on undisclosed revenue creates opacity — franchisees cannot benchmark performance against system averages
- 04MINORWide investment range ($117.1k spread) suggests inconsistent buildout costs or undefined scope of work
- 05HIGHNo litigation disclosed but micro-system size limits statistical relevance — hidden disputes may not surface
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
2 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
The Rock Underground · FDD (2025) PDF