Wingstop Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Wingstop is a quick-service franchise specializing in cooked-to-order chicken wings, tenders, and sandwiches in bold flavors, with fries and sides. Franchisees run compact kitchens focused on takeout and delivery.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Wingstop franchise requires a total initial investment of $310K – $1.0M, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.0M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 8.4% charge-off rate across 465 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $310K – $1.0M
- 51st pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $2.0M
- 31st pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 46th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 2,586
- 95th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- 8.4%
- % 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 $310K – $1.0M including a $25K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $2.0M/year (median $1.9M).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 93/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 8.4% across 465 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- TERMSNo protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Wingstop Franchising LLC
- Parent company
- Wingstop Funding LLC
- Ultimate parent
- Wingstop Inc.
- Predecessor
- Wingstop Restaurants Inc. (WRI)
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President (Wingstop Franchising LLC); President and CEO (WRI)
- Michael Skipworth
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 2801 North Central Expressway, Suite 1600, Dallas, Texas 75204
- Auditor
- KPMG LLP (implied Independent Auditors, name not explicitly stated in excerpt)
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $331.0M
- vs $297.5M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- companies are disclosable in this Item
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Michael Skipworth
- Headquarters
- Texas
- Founded
- 1994
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 45
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost is about average for a quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development Feenot refundable | $10K | $10K | |
| Franchise Feenot refundable | $20K | $20K | |
| Rent | — | — | |
| Security Deposits | $0 | $10K | |
| Architectural/Engineering Feesnot refundable | $7K | $30K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $3K | $8K | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $100K | $510K | |
| Operating Permitsnot refundable | $5K | $9K | |
| Decor Packagenot refundable | $10K | $35K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, Audio/Visual System, Equipment and Small-waresnot refundable | $50K | $154K | |
| Point-of-Sale, Back Office, Software and Hardware and Related Itemsnot refundable | $11K | $24K | |
| Signsnot refundable | $4K | $32K | |
| Opening Inventorynot refundable | $10K | $16K | |
| Opening Publicity and Promotionsnot refundable | $5K | $15K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 monthsnot refundable | $25K | $40K | |
| Total initial investment | $259K | $912K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $310K – $1.0M
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $25K – $40K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K – $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 5.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 11.3%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 5.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $100 |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $25K |
| Inventory (initial) | $10K – $16K |
| Total fee load | 11.3% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 66% above the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · 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
$211K
10.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
30%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
3.4 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 Wingstop unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
30%
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 Wingstop units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.4M
on $7.0M purchase
Total debt
$5.6M
SBA $3.5M + 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: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.0M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.9M
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical actual average/median/high-low net sales
- Sample size
- 2,116 outlets
- vs category median 20 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $585K→$5.0M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 782 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
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 $2.0M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 3.0x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 11.3% — above the Quick-Service Restaurants average of 7.9%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
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 Wingstop Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 2,586
- Opened
- 384
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 57
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 98%
- vs corporate-owned
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 203
- Closed (3yr)
- 1
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 132
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 3
- Franchisor bought back
- Ceased ops
- 2.9%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 45 states 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.
45
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 465
- Loan volume
- $149.3M
- Median loan
- $372K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 8.4%
- 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)
- 91.6%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 54
- Defaults
- 33
- Typical loan rate
- 6.0%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 10.8%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 3,268
- 4.5 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 12%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 68% went to startups / new businesses, 32% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in limited-service restaurants, franchised businesses charge off at 10.8% vs 10.0% for independents — franchising is associated with 8% higher SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
Wingstop charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Wingstop franchisees
Showing 3 of 54 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 Wingstop'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 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 15-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 8.4% — 48% 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
Wingstop is a clean, large-scale FDD: 1,926 units with only one international arbitration matter (resolved in franchisor's favor), no bankruptcy, no going-concern, no distress. Strong 25.3% net growth and near-zero turnover (0.05%).
Litigation (Item 3)
Wingstop Franchising LLC v. B.Wing & Flight 83 SAS (LCIA arbitration, France territory dispute, franchisor prevailed on liability, USD 4.9M damages awarded, appeal pending); Sweet Adeline, Inc. v. Wingstop Restaurants Inc. (AAA arbitration, former franchisee alleges encroachment/breach of contract, $499,000 claim, pending).
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · KPMG LLP (implied Independent Auditors, name not explicitly stated in excerpt)
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 93 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORSingle arbitration matter across 1,926 units (immaterial relative to system size)
- 02MINORNo bankruptcy, going-concern, or distress
- 03MEDAudited, Item 19 disclosed
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 11.3% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · 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 | 2 |
| Territory type | none |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 14 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 10 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Dallas, Texas (near franchisor's principal business address at time of filing) |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 2 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Wingstop Franchising LLC v. B.Wing & Flight 83 SAS (LCIA arbitration, France territory dispute, franchisor prevailed on liability, USD 4.9M damages awarded, appeal pending); Sweet Adeline, Inc. v. Wingstop Restaurants Inc. (AAA arbitration, former franchisee alleges encroachment/breach of contract, $499,000 claim, pending).
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 23 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 134 hrs
- Training location
- Dallas, Texas (headquarters training facility) and designated training restaurants
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- franchisor and franchisee jointly, per Development Agreement
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- NCR VOYIX Aloha POS
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: NCR VOYIX Aloha POS
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
1,235 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Wingstop · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Wingstop franchise?
The total investment to open a Wingstop franchise ranges from $310K – $1.0M, 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 Wingstop franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Wingstop FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.0M. The median is $1.9M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Wingstop 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 Wingstop FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Wingstop's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Wingstop has a charge-off rate of 8.4% across 465 loans, meaning 8.4% 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 Wingstop franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Wingstop has 2,586 total units in the United States, including 2,529 franchised units and 57 company-owned units. 384 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Wingstop a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Wingstop as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 93 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 Wingstop, 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.