Retail
Play It Again Sports Franchise
A resale retail franchise buying and selling used and new sporting goods equipment and accessories through standalone stores.
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 Play It Again Sports'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
$25,000
Total to open
$346,300–$459,700
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.
Defaulted to a rough retail industry average, not a figure from Play It Again Sports's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$471,300 – $584,700
Startup investment
$346,300–$459,700
Royalty per year (5%)
$25,000
Total royalty, 5yr
$125,000
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Play It Again Sports's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical retail profit margin (~6%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general retail industry benchmark, not a figure from Play It Again Sports'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
11.5–15.3 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Play It Again Sports is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is Play It Again Sports 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
GrowingFrom Item 20 of Play It Again Sports's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 281 | 294 | +13 |
| 2024 | 294 | 302 | +8 |
| 2025 | 302 | 309 | +7 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 7 franchised units, ending the year at 309 total.
Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00004388, filed 3/16/2026, effective 4/23/2026. FDD issuance date March 16, 2026. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-03-16. 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.