Winger's AlehouseFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Winger's Alehouse franchise requires a total initial investment of $420K – $1.7M, including a $40K franchise fee. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $3.0M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 33.3% charge-off rate across 20 loans[1]. Verdict grade: C. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $420K – $1.7M
- 28th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $3.0M
- 25th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- N/A
- Units
- 21
- 28th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 33.3%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Full-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
33.3% of SBA loans charged off across 20 loans, above the 16% franchise average.
Franchising since 1997. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Bottom line
- Total investment $420K – $1.7M including a $40K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $3.0M/year (median $2.7M).
- Verdict C (Average) with a risk score of 68/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 33.3% across 20 loans (well above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Winger’s Franchising, Inc.
- Parent company
- Winger’s USA, Inc.
- Ultimate parent
- Winger's USA, Inc.
- CEO title
- Director, CEO
- Eric E. Slaymaker
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- UT
- HQ
- 3950 South 700 East #302, Salt Lake City, Utah 84107
- Auditor
- Kezos & Dunlavy
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.2M
- vs $1.1M prior year
Overview
About
Winger's Alehouse franchisees operate casual dining establishments serving wings, burgers, and craft beverages with a sports bar atmosphere. Daily operations include managing front-of-house service, kitchen coordination, inventory management, and staff scheduling across typical lunch/dinner/evening service periods. Franchisees are responsible for local marketing, P&L management, and maintaining brand standards across their protected territory.
- CEO
- Eric E. Slaymaker
- Headquarters
- UT
- Founded
- 1997
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 5
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40K | $40K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $10K | $30K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $370K | $1.6M |
| Total initial investment | $420K | $1.7M |
Source: Winger's Alehouse 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
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
$334K
11.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
31%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
3.2 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $420K – $1.7M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $30K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- Currently 4% of gross sales
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 5.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $370 |
| Training fee | $250 |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $3K |
| Total fee load | 5.0% of rev |
A 5.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $3.0M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.7M
- Item 19 type
- Average and Median of Outlets
- Sample size
- 5 units
- vs category median 13 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $2.6M→$4.0M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency
- 7 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Winger's Alehouse Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 21
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Terminated
- 1
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 4.8%
- Company-owned
- 7
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 67%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +0.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +0.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 1
- Projected new
- 0
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 4.8%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 4.8%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 4.8%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 23 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
- 20
- Loan volume
- $9.9M
- Median loan
- $493K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- 33.3%
- 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)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 3
- Defaults
- 6
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
A 33.3% charge-off rate means roughly 1 in 3 franchisees failed to repay their SBA loan. Investigate what changed.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Going concern status combined with undisclosed profitability metrics, stagnant unit growth, and gross-sales-based royalties creates significant uncertainty about franchisee viability and franchisor sustainability.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Kezos & Dunlavy
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 68 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing concern issue — franchisor's ability to support franchisees is questionable
- 02MINORNo net income disclosure in Item 19 — unable to assess actual franchisee profitability despite $3M+ average revenue
- 03MINORSmall unit count (21 locations) with unknown growth trajectory — suggests stagnant or declining system
- 04MINORWide investment range ($419K-$1.7M) with no clear explanation — may indicate inconsistent unit economics
- 05MINOR4% royalty on gross sales (not net) — franchisees pay during unprofitable periods
- 06HIGHNo litigation disclosed but going concern status is a red flag for potential legal/financial issues
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 4 mi |
| Territory population | 40,000 |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Utah |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 30 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 474 hrs
- Training location
- franchisee location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 96 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
30 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Winger's Alehouse · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Winger's Alehouse franchise?
The total investment to open a Winger's Alehouse franchise ranges from $420K – $1.7M, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Winger's Alehouse franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Winger's Alehouse FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $3.0M. The median is $2.7M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Winger's Alehouse's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Winger's Alehouse has a charge-off rate of 33.3% across 20 loans, meaning 33.3% 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 Winger's Alehouse franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Winger's Alehouse has 21 total units in the United States, including 14 franchised units and 7 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Winger's Alehouse a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Winger's Alehouse as a C-grade franchise with a risk score of 68 out of 100, 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.
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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.