Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 640597
Papa Johns franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Papa Johns cost $281,485 to $890,267 in the 2026 FDD; the median unit sold $1,043,433 in the franchisor's 2025 calendar year figures; 5.3% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Papa John's Franchising, LLC. FDD issued 2026-03-30, amended 2026-08-14. Fiscal year end 2025-12-28. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-03.
What a unit costs to open
Standard Restaurant and Small-Town Restaurant, pre-opening plus first 3 months; Non-Traditional Restaurant $125,000 to $423,302 (p.19-20).
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $5,000 to $25,000 depending on incentive | Item 5, p. 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 5% of Net Sales per Period (Traditional and Non-Traditional) | Item 6, p. 10 |
| Advertising fund | not read in the pilot pass (no percentage line found on the Item 6 pages scanned) | Item 6, p. 10 |
Development Fee Deposit of $5,000 to $25,000 per restaurant is credited against it.
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 | Net Royalty Sales, calendar 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | 2,389 units: Table 2: standard franchised restaurants open the entire year of 2025, with quartile breakdowns; Table 1 is the whole system (average $1,124,305, median $1,068,453, 1,266 / 44.6% above average) and Table 3 company-owned | |
| Period | 2025 calendar year | |
| High / low | $3,497,308 / $266,003 | |
Revenue to investment
Formula: Item 19 Table 2 median / Item 7 standard 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 | 2,658 | 2,689 | 2,752 |
| Opened | 73 | 90 | 162 |
| Terminated | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| Not renewed | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 1 | 26 | 82 |
| End of year | 2,689 | 2,752 | 2,832 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 531 | 539 | 462 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 73; Table 3 totals p. 80.
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.
all three rows sum; 2025 openings include refranchised company stores (company-owned fell by 77).
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Papa Johns Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-03-30 and amended 2026-08-14, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 640597, 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.
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.