Food & Beverage

Blaze Pizza Franchise

A fast-casual, build-your-own artisan pizza chain where customers choose toppings for a pizza cooked to order in an open kitchen. Organized in California in October 2011 (originally as PYR Pizza, LLC) and franchising since May 2012, with private-equity funds managed by Brentwood Associates as its ultimate parent. Franchised unit count fell in every year of the FDD's three-year window, and the system's company-owned locations dropped to zero by the end of 2025.

Losing locationsFounded 2011HQ: Atlanta, GA

Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Blaze Pizza's own filing.

What it costs to open

From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.

Franchise fee

$30,000

Total to open

$757,000–$1,297,100

Ongoing royalty

5% of gross sales

What you'd actually spend, over time

The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.

Your estimated annual revenue

Defaulted to a rough food & beverage industry average, not a figure from Blaze Pizza's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.

Years of ownership

Total cost of ownership over 5 years

$1,007,000 – $1,547,100

Startup investment

$757,000–$1,297,100

Royalty per year (5%)

$50,000

Total royalty, 5yr

$250,000

When would you break even?

Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Blaze Pizza's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical food & beverage profit margin (~8%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.

Estimated profit margin (% of revenue)

%≈ $80,000/year

Defaulted to a general food & beverage industry benchmark, not a figure from Blaze Pizza's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.

At that profit, you'd break even in about

9.5–16.2 years

Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Blaze Pizza is currently losing locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.

Is Blaze Pizza actually growing?

Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:

Locations opened vs. closed, by year

Shrinking

From Item 20 of Blaze Pizza's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.

-13

-28

-25

202320242025

Year	Franchised units, start	Franchised units, end	Net change
2023	296	283	-13
2024	283	255	-28
2025	255	230	-25

Most recent year (2025): lost 25 franchised units, ending the year at 230 total.

What you're actually signing up for

The cost and growth numbers above are only part of the picture. These three FDD items are the ones a prospective franchisee tends to weigh most heavily once they're past the sticker price.

Training & ongoing support (Item 11)

Pre-opening training is the Blaze Standards Training Program (BSTP), up to four weeks and up to 50 hours/week, provided free for up to three management trainees per restaurant (additional trainees cost $500-$1,500/week); travel, lodging, and food during training are on the franchisee. Ongoing support is funded in part by the Creative Fund Contribution, which pays for system-wide brand development and marketing rather than being returned dollar-for-dollar to any one franchisee's local market.

Territory protection (Item 12)

Blaze Pizza does not guarantee a territory by default -- absent a defined Territory, your rights are limited to your Restaurant's specific accepted street address. Where a Territory is granted, it's defined by radius, zip codes, or another written description at Blaze's discretion, and Blaze won't open or license another Restaurant inside it during your term; Non-Traditional Restaurants additionally can't be relocated at all.

Renewal & termination terms (Item 17)

10-year initial term with two available 10-year successor terms -- a real two-renewal structure, more generous than several peers' single-renewal cap -- though each successor agreement can carry materially different terms and requires a remodel and no more than two material defaults in the prior 36 months. In-term, franchisees are barred from any competing pizza business; post-termination, Blaze can buy back restaurant equipment at depreciated book value (minimum 10% of cost) rather than letting a franchisee sell it independently.

How Blaze Pizza compares to other Food & Beverage franchises

Across the 52 food & beverage franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $860,899–$2,165,095, with royalties averaging around 5.6% of gross sales (based on the 48 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).

Dave's Hot Chicken

$617,800–$2,170,000 · 6% royalty

Slim Chickens

$1,188,900–$4,944,000 · 5% royalty

Ziggi's Coffee

$315,830–$2,093,361 · 6% royalty

Crumbl

$848,566–$1,472,533 · 8% royalty

Little Caesars

$376,500–$1,769,200 · 6% royalty

Jamba

$480,850–$941,300 · 6% royalty

Tropical Smoothie Cafe

$300,000–$720,500 · 6% royalty

Playa Bowls

$188,675–$636,458 · 6% royalty

Kona Ice

$114,730–$228,601 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Firehouse Subs

$166,671–$950,351 · 6% royalty

Wingstop

$310,400–$1,048,500 · 6% royalty

Jersey Mike's Subs

$436,176–$1,162,228 · 6.5% royalty

Dunkin'

$532,400–$1,832,500 · 5.9% royalty

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

$1,222,045–$3,923,245 · 5% royalty

Del Taco

$1,461,200–$3,313,500 · 5% royalty

Church's Texas Chicken

$1,202,400–$1,886,300 · 5% royalty

MOD Pizza

$924,732–$1,220,633 · 5% royalty

Twin Peaks

$2,959,000–$5,734,000 · 5% royalty

McDonald's

$1,470,500–$2,642,000 · 5% royalty

Subway

$263,000–$630,000 · 8% royalty

Taco Bell

$1,859,750–$4,312,200 · 5.5% royalty

Domino's Pizza

$231,450–$743,500 · 5.5% royalty

KFC

$2,107,575–$4,155,000 · 5% royalty

Burger King

$2,039,200–$4,730,600 · 4.5% royalty

Chick-fil-A

$317,521–$3,463,155 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Penn Station

$507,500–$858,750 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Nekter Juice Bar

$243,155–$647,160 · 6% royalty

Jimmy John's

$366,200–$733,500 · 6% royalty

Sonic Drive-In

$1,485,200–$2,522,900 · 5% royalty

Papa John's

$281,485–$890,267 · 5% royalty

Hungry Howie's Pizza & Subs

$238,982–$697,322 · 5.5% royalty

Jack in the Box

$1,909,500–$4,041,500 · 5% royalty

Wendy's

$1,523,957–$2,992,000 · 4% royalty

Marco's Pizza

$286,477–$811,186 · 5.5% royalty

Pizza Hut

$846,000–$2,130,000 · 6% royalty

Chicken Salad Chick

$777,000–$998,500 · 5% royalty

Teriyaki Madness

$392,667–$1,121,405 · 6% royalty

Cold Stone Creamery

$390,675–$680,775 · 6% royalty

Scooter's Coffee

$1,163,650–$1,345,750 · 6% royalty

Nothing Bundt Cakes

$475,200–$994,100 · 6% royalty

Five Guys

$977,850–$1,375,750 · 6% royalty

Tim Hortons

$427,500–$3,312,500 · 6% royalty

7 Brew

$940,500–$2,283,500 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Swig

$608,400–$1,718,000 · 7% royalty

Culver's

$3,406,350–$10,294,100 · 4% royalty

Dairy Queen

$1,516,200–$2,543,050 · 4% royalty

Paris Baguette

$727,515–$1,860,550 · 5% royalty

Jollibee

$1,614,568–$4,589,057 · 5% royalty

Smoothie King

$329,850–$683,215 · 6% royalty

IHOP

$380,550–$3,735,850 · 4.5% royalty

Cinnabon

$256,950–$703,500 · 6% royalty

Blaze Pizza Franchise FAQ

How much does it cost to franchise a Blaze Pizza?

Based on Blaze Pizza's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $757,000–$1,297,100, including the $30,000 franchise fee. California DFPI Registration Application (Initial/Late Renewal), App ID APP00005473, filed 4/30/2026, effective 7/27/2026. FDD issued April 30, 2026. Item 5: $30,000 initial franchise fee. Item 6: 5% Continuing Royalty; Creative Fund Contribution currently 2% of gross sales, increasable up to 4% on 60 days' notice (0%-2% for Non-Traditional Venues), plus a separate 2% Local Advertising Requirement. Item 7: $757,000-$1,297,100 total initial investment for a standard Restaurant; Item 7 also discloses a $10,000-$90,000 range for Non-Traditional Venue and food-court formats, which this entry excludes. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets; company-owned outlets fell from 13 to 0 in 2025.

What is the Blaze Pizza franchise fee and royalty rate?

The initial franchise fee is $30,000, and the ongoing royalty is 5% of gross sales, per the filing on record.

Is the Blaze Pizza franchise growing or shrinking?

Shrinking. Across 2023–2025, Blaze Pizza lost a net 66 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.

Keep going

Blaze Pizza and Chicken Salad Chick are both food & beverage franchises; Blaze Pizza's total investment starts about $20,000 lower than Chicken Salad Chick's. Chicken Salad Chick Franchise
Blaze Pizza and Paris Baguette are both food & beverage franchises; Paris Baguette's total investment starts about $29,485 lower than Blaze Pizza's. Paris Baguette Franchise

Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Application (Initial/Late Renewal), App ID APP00005473, filed 4/30/2026, effective 7/27/2026. FDD issued April 30, 2026. Item 5: $30,000 initial franchise fee. Item 6: 5% Continuing Royalty; Creative Fund Contribution currently 2% of gross sales, increasable up to 4% on 60 days' notice (0%-2% for Non-Traditional Venues), plus a separate 2% Local Advertising Requirement. Item 7: $757,000-$1,297,100 total initial investment for a standard Restaurant; Item 7 also discloses a $10,000-$90,000 range for Non-Traditional Venue and food-court formats, which this entry excludes. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets; company-owned outlets fell from 13 to 0 in 2025. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-04-30. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.

If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.