Food & Beverage · registry year 2024 · HQ MN
Buffalo Wild Wings Franchise
A Inspire Brands brand operating in the food & beverage sector, franchising since 1991. According to the 2024 FDD filing for Buffalo Wild Wings, this is an editorial comparison record; it does not reproduce the brand's current FDD.
- $1.7M – $4.9M
- Initial investment · Higher entry cost
- 5.0%
- Royalty rate · Mid-range royalty
- 1,260
- Total locations · Mid-size network
- $3.6M
- Avg unit revenue · Above-average unit revenue
FDD outlay schedule
Registry buffalo-wild-wings Buffalo Wild Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings needs $1.7M–$4.9M to open and charges a 5.0% royalty - an entry cost above the typical food & beverage franchise.
- LO $1.7M
- HI $4.9M
- FEE $45K
- ROY 5.0%
- UNT 1,260
- I19 Disclosed
- INV# #16/223
- UNT# #81/223
Same-sector Item 7 peers
Nearest Item 7 peer: IHOP ($1.7M)
Same-sector Item 7 neighbourhood for Buffalo Wild Wings (registry year 2024). Listed lows only - not a profit, cost-of-living, or suitability claim. Verify the current FDD before relying on these figures. How we place brands →
Franchise Opportunity Health Score
How healthy and transparent Buffalo Wild Wings's franchise system looks, from 2 of 2 tracked dimensions.
- Network momentum -0.8% net unit growth (YoY) 12/100 · F
- Financial disclosure Item 19 disclosed 100/100 · A
Benchmarked against the 223-brand tracked corpus (p10-p90 range per dimension); a higher score means a growing unit count and a disclosed Item 19. See how we place brands.
Where Buffalo Wild Wings's investment ranks nationally
Buffalo Wild Wings's listed Item 7 low of $1.7M against every one of the 218 tracked franchise brands with a disclosed initial investment. Listed figures only, verify in the current FDD before relying on them.
Buffalo Wild Wings vs all tracked franchise brands by listed investment
Initial investment low (FDD Item 7), PlainFranchise brand corpus
$1,700,000 Higher than most higher than 92% of 218 franchise brands
Franchise brands, banded by listed Item 7 low
Each bar is a $0.001K-wide band; taller bars hold more franchise brands. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainFranchise editorial comparison registry · 2024-12-31
Investment Overview
- Franchise Fee
- $45K
- Ad Fund Rate
- 3.5%
Revenue Data (Item 19)
- Average Revenue
- $3.6M
- gross revenue per location
* Revenue figures are gross revenue (sales), not profit. This registry does not report operating costs or profit.
Network Size & Growth
Net Growth Rate
Year-over-year unit change
40 locations closed in the last reporting year
Quick Facts
- Sector
- Food & Beverage
- Subsector
- casual dining
- Founded
- 1982
- Franchising Since
- 1991
- Headquarters
- MN
- FDD Year
- 2024
- Item 19
- Disclosed
Important Notice · Buffalo Wild Wings
This Buffalo Wild Wings page is a registry comparison record, not a verified FDD extract. It does not establish suitability, operating costs, profitability, or expected results for Buffalo Wild Wings.
Higher-band investment fields for Buffalo Wild Wings
Signature read: 1,260 locations · Item 7 low $1.7M
Buffalo Wild Wings, a Inspire Brands franchise, has been franchising since 1991 - 9 years after the concept was founded in 1982 , currently with 1,260 total locations (1,100 franchised, 160 company-owned; 87% of the recorded total is franchised) in the food & beverage sector, headquartered in MN. The listed total initial investment is $1.7M to $4.9M, using the registry's listed low and high fields. The registry separately records a franchise-fee field of $45K; its summary does not reproduce every Item 7 line item.
Ongoing royalties run 5.0% of gross sales; the registry also records a 3.5% advertising-fund field, for a 8.5% arithmetic total. The registry records an Item 19 field for Buffalo Wild Wings. Financial-performance disclosure in Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule. The reported average gross revenue per location is $3.6M; the listed royalty rate multiplied by the reported average equals $180K, which is not a total-cost or profit calculation. Revenue is not profit; this registry does not contain a complete operating-cost or profit record.
Buffalo Wild Wings's footprint shrank over the past year, down 0.8% with 40 closures on the record. The registry does not attribute the change to a cause or establish an operating or financial outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Buffalo Wild Wings franchise cost?
How many Buffalo Wild Wings locations are there?
What are the ongoing fees for a Buffalo Wild Wings franchise?
Related reading for Buffalo Wild Wings: Understanding FDDs , Buffalo Wild Wings lists Item 19 revenue here, how Item 19 fits the 23-item FDD.
Snapshot uses the registry's listed Item 7 initial-investment low and Item 20 location-count fields. It is a descriptive comparison, not a ranking or investment recommendation.
How Buffalo Wild Wings's Item 7 and Item 19 fields are labeled (expand)
Nationwide brands with similar investment or network size
Two data-derived peer sets for Buffalo Wild Wings , both outside HQ state MN : nearest Item 7 lows and nearest total-location counts, not the same-sector roster below.
Similar listed investment
Nearest Item 7 lows ($1.7M here).
Similar network size
Nearest total location counts (1,260 here).
What to do with this
Buffalo Wild Wings at a glance, drawn from the same figures above.
- Buffalo Wild Wings scores 56/100 (F) on our composite opportunity read, combining net unit growth and Item 19 financial-disclosure transparency.
- Its $1.7M – $4.9M entry cost runs above the typical food & beverage franchise.
- Ranks #16 of 223 listed franchises by initial investment. See rankings
- IHOP sits at a comparable investment level ($1.7M) in the same sector. Compare
Editorial comparison registry, not a source-linked FDD record. Verify the current FDD before relying on any figure.
Read our methodology - what this registry can and cannot establish.
Source: PlainFranchise editorial registry Record-level FDD source link and retrieval date pending
| Publisher | PlainFranchise |
| Sources | Public state franchise disclosure registries and FDD filings |