Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 640448
Buffalo Wild Wings franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Buffalo Wild Wings cost $2,896,445 to $4,900,320 in the 2026 FDD; the median unit sold $3,433,937 in the franchisor's fiscal 2025 figures; 2.3% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Buffalo Wild Wings International, Inc.. FDD issued 2026-03-26. Fiscal year end 2025-12-28. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-03.
What a unit costs to open
new free-standing and non-traditional location sports bars; non-free-standing column $2,463,945 to $4,500,320.
Largest line: Building, construction and equipment subtotal, $2,669,745 to $3,800,020 (Item 7, p. 31).
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $25,000 | Item 5, p. 21 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | Royalty Fee 5% of Gross Sales, weekly (subject to incentive programs) | Item 6, p. 23 |
| Advertising fund | Advertising Fee 4% of Gross Sales (2% non-traditional), plus a loyalty program contribution of 2.2% of loyalty sales | Item 6, p. 23 |
Traditional Sports Bar; $12,500 non-traditional; $12,500 of a development fee is credited under a Development Agreement.
What a unit sells
Item 19 is optional and is the franchisor's own representation. It is shown here as filed, with the franchisor's measure, sample and period, and nothing is estimated where it is missing.
| Measure | Annual Unit Volume (Gross Sales), 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | 532 units: the 2025 Franchised Sports Bars: franchised sports bars open the full fiscal year (Inspire template; quartiles also given) | |
| Period | fiscal 2025 | |
| High / low | $8,127,592 / $1,352,618 | |
Revenue to investment
Formula: Item 19 all-sports-bars median AUV / Item 7 free-standing total (midpoint, low, high). A ratio of 1.00 means one year of median unit revenue equals the investment; it says nothing about profit.
How many units open and close
| Franchised units | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of year | 529 | 532 | 538 |
| Opened | 9 | 8 | 15 |
| Terminated | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Not renewed | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| End of year | 532 | 538 | 549 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 652 | 645 | 629 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 73; Table 3 totals p. 77.
Closures are the franchisor's Item 20 counts of units terminated, not renewed, or ceased for other reasons, summed over 2023–2025 and divided by franchised units at the start of 2023. Units the franchisor reacquired are not closures. This is an Item 20 count, not a failure rate.
As filed: Table 3 totals start 2023 at 529 and 2024 at 532 while Table 1 prints 530 and 533.
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Buffalo Wild Wings Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-03-26, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 640448, registry record). The PDF is the franchisor's and is not hosted here; the item and page beside each figure is where to check it. Item 7 and Item 20 tables were read cell by cell; Item 19 was read by hand; each Item 20 year was checked to sum (start + opened − exits = end) before it was recorded.
Wisconsin holds two registrations: 640448 Buffalo Wild Wings (sports bars, this record) and 640442 Buffalo Wild Wings GO, a separate small-format offering not fetched.
Informational only, not professional, legal or investment advice. Unitnomics computes from the filing and does not advise on, rank, or refer to any franchise. Last reviewed: November 2026.