Facebook
Mandatorythey operate. (Section 4.F of MBA). Social Media You must comply with our policies and requirements (as we periodically modify them) concerning blogs, common social networks like Facebook, professiona
From the filings
+2.045% units YoYHQ-led decisions
Buffalo Wild Wings
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Buffalo Wild Wings is controlled at the corporate level, with Chief Technology & AI Acceleration Officer Yasir Anwar and Chief Information Security Officer Haddon Bennett shaping the tech agenda. The brand already mandates Franchise Sales Automation (FSA), its electronic data interface, and an integrated online ordering solution across its system. With 1,178 total units—549 franchised and 629 company-owned—vendors face a large, centrally influenced addressable market.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
1,178
549 franchised
Unit growth YoY
+2.045%
vs prior filing
AUV
$3.57M
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
4%
national + local
Initial fee
$25K
per unit
Investment range
$2.90M–$4.90M
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisor controlled
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
Claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
9%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
1 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.
Instagram
ks like Facebook, professional networks like Linked-In, live- blogging tools like X (f/k/a Twitter), virtual worlds, file, audio and video sharing sites like TikTok, Pinterest and Instagram, and other
Pinterest
social networks like Facebook, professional networks like Linked-In, live- blogging tools like X (f/k/a Twitter), virtual worlds, file, audio and video sharing sites like TikTok, Pinterest and Instagr
TikTok
, common social networks like Facebook, professional networks like Linked-In, live- blogging tools like X (f/k/a Twitter), virtual worlds, file, audio and video sharing sites like TikTok, Pinterest an
Twitter
and requirements (as we periodically modify them) concerning blogs, common social networks like Facebook, professional networks like Linked-In, live- blogging tools like X (f/k/a Twitter), virtual wor
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
31 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 1 explicit no; 2 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You must compile, keep and submit to us the books, records and reports on the forms and using the methods of bookkeeping and accounting as we periodically may prescribe.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We have unlimited, independent access to your Sports Bar’s Computer System and may retrieve, analyze, download and use all software, data and files generated or stored on the Computer System.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You also must, at your expense, submit to us within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year a detailed balance sheet, profit and loss statement and statement of cash flows for such fiscal year, prepared on an accrual basis including all adjustments necessary for fair presentation of the financial statements…
How the franchisor buys
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 20
We have one franchisee advisory council, the Buffalo Wild Wings Franchise Advisory Council (“FAC”).
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
We may implement and periodically modify our approved supplies criteria.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
0Item 8
Neither we nor our affiliates received any revenue during our 2025 fiscal year from selling products or services to Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars franchisees.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
During our 2025 fiscal year, we and our affiliates received a total of $3,767,731 from suppliers of certain food products based on franchisees’ purchases from those suppliers.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
50Item 8
Collectively, the purchases and leases that you must make from us or our affiliates, from designated or approved suppliers, or under our standards and specifications represent about 90% of your purchases and leases to establish, and about 50% of your purchase and leases to operate, the Sports Bar.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
You must pay all costs of the inspection and evaluation and the actual cost of the test.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
You must notify us in writing if you want to offer for sale at the Sports Bar any brand of product, or to use in the operation of the Sports Bar any brand of food ingredient or other material, item or supply, that we have not then approved, or to purchase any product from a supplier that we have not designated as an…
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
assign all right, title and interest in the telephone numbers for the Sports Bar
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You must, at all times, be compliant with the applicable and then current Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI-DSS”) and requirements.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
We or our authorized representative have the right to enter your Sports Bar at all reasonable times during business hours for the purpose of making periodic evaluations and to ascertain if the provisions of this Agreement are being observed by you, to inspect and evaluate the Authorized Location and its building…
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
We may from time to time revise the contents of the manuals and you expressly agree to comply with each new or changed requirement.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You may not develop a Sports Bar at any site unless we have communicated our acceptance of the site in writing.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
You may not use or reference the Marks in any online communication or web site (including all current and future social media platforms) absent our prior approval.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 11
You must spend at least $12,500 for grand opening activities during the time between 45 days before and 45 days after the Sports Bar opens.
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 11
In addition to the Advertising Fee, you must spend 0.5% of your Sports Bar’s Gross Sales on approved local marketing and promotion, unless the Sports Bar will be located a Non-Traditional Location, and then you are not required to spend any additional amounts on local marketing or promotion activities.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesItem 6
Your Sports Bar must participate in our and our affiliates’ consumer loyalty program (the “Loyalty Program”).
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
We may designate a local advertising market for Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars, and if we do, you must participate in and contribute to the cooperative or LMG responsible for coordinating advertising and marketing programs in your designated local advertising market.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
As of the date of this disclosure document, 36 BWW FDD 2026 1625678158.4 you must purchase certain construction-related services, equipment (including the POS system and related services and audio/visual equipment), Sports Bar signage, smallwares, sports programming, food and beverage products, uniforms and other…
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
you must purchase certain construction-related services, equipment (including the POS system and related services and audio/visual equipment), Sports Bar signage, smallwares, sports programming, food and beverage products, uniforms and other branded merchandise, and gift card services only from our designated…
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You must comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (“PCI DSS”) as they may be revised and modified by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, or any successor or replacement organization we may specify, and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”) and other applicable…
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
You must sign an electronic transfer of funds authorization that we periodically specify to authorize and direct your bank or financial institution to transfer electronically, on a weekly basis, directly to our or our affiliate’s account and to charge to your account all amounts due to us or our affiliates.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 8
You must participate in our then-current gift card program operated by or through our approved suppliers (that may include us or our affiliates).
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
In addition to the Control Person and your Unit General Manager, your Sports Bar must have at least 2 assistant managers at all times during the Franchise Agreement’s term.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You must require all your employees to work in clean uniforms approved by us.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
All Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars must use the POS system we designate.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We have unlimited, independent access to your Sports Bar’s Computer System and may retrieve, analyze, download and use all software, data and files generated or stored on the Computer System.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesFranchise agreement
We may require the Control Person, the Multi-Unit Operations Manager (if applicable), the Unit General Manager, the
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 11
Your Control Person or another representative of the Sports Bar whom we approve must attend, at your expense, all annual franchise conferences we may hold or sponsor and all meetings relating to new products or product preparation procedures, new operational procedures or programs, training, restaurant management…
The filing answers no to 1 question
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
Formal HQ procurement; C-suite sponsor + cross-functional committee + IT/security/legal; often PE-backed.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- 41.9% of quick service brands mandate no POS system, leaving a massive blind spot in your target list.By instantly identifying the 452 brands with no POS mandate, you replace weeks of manual FDD research and focus your pipeline on high-fit displacement targets, cutting customer acquisition cost by over 60%.
- 82.3% of brands mandate no accounting system, signaling a wide-open market for tech vendors.FranCloud surfaces the 888 brands without an accounting mandate so your team can prioritize outreach before competitors even know they exist, turning a manual research cost center into a predictable revenue engine.
- Only 17 out of 1,079 quick service brands mandate a CRM, yet unit counts and AUVs prove these are high-value accounts.Instead of spending 40+ hours manually combing FDDs to find CRM-needy brands, FranCloud delivers the 17 mandate-holders and their financials in one query, letting your team close deals 10x faster.
The vendor opportunity at Buffalo Wild Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings operates 1,178 locations across the United States, with 549 franchised units and 629 company-owned stores. The brand posted an average unit volume of $3,574,130 in its 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, placing it among the higher-grossing quick-service restaurant concepts. Year-over-year unit growth sits at 2.045%, signaling a system that is expanding, not contracting. For software vendors, the franchised segment represents the primary addressable market: 549 locations where operators may have some latitude within corporate technology mandates. The company-owned side—629 units—runs on decisions made directly at the Atlanta-area headquarters.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2026 FDD lists Paul Brown as Chief Executive Officer, but the executives most relevant to a software pitch are Yasir Anwar, Chief Technology & AI Acceleration Officer, and Haddon Bennett, Chief Information Security Officer. Anwar’s title signals a focus on AI-driven tools, while Bennett’s role points to a security-conscious evaluation process. Scott Catlett, Chief Legal & Administrative Officer and board member, may also weigh in on vendor contracts. The operator footprint shows a single mapped operator across roughly one located unit, with no multi-unit operators on file. This suggests that most franchised purchasing influence remains concentrated at the corporate level rather than with large franchisee groups.
Mandated and current tech stack
Buffalo Wild Wings mandates three technology components in its franchise system: Franchise Sales Automation (FSA), the FSA electronic data interface, and an integrated online ordering solution. These are the only named systems in the FDD extract. No point-of-sale vendor, back-office platform, or kitchen display system is disclosed as mandated or recommended. Vendors selling complementary tools—inventory management, labor scheduling, loyalty platforms, or AI-driven upsell engines—should note that the existing mandates focus on sales automation and digital ordering, leaving adjacent categories potentially open. The absence of a named POS mandate is notable for a system of this size and may represent an opportunity if the current stack is aging or fragmented.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the 2026 FDD does not provide an extract describing procurement rules. Without that disclosure, vendors cannot confirm whether Buffalo Wild Wings uses a designated-supplier model, an approved-supplier list, or an open procurement process. The renewal structure, detailed in Item 17, offers a timing signal: franchise agreements run an initial 20 years, with 10-year renewal terms. To renew, franchisees must give written notice between 6 and 12 months before expiration, sign the then-current franchise agreement, meet modernization requirements, pay a $20,000 renewal fee, and execute a release. The franchisor explicitly states that renewal terms may be materially different from the prior agreement, including different fee structures and territorial rights. This creates periodic windows where technology standards may be updated and pushed to operators.
How to read the Buffalo Wild Wings FDD
The full 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. Item 1 lists the executive team and ownership structure—no parent company is on file, indicating Buffalo Wild Wings appears independently owned. Item 7 tables the initial investment, while Item 19 provides the financial performance representations that underpin the $3.57 million AUV cited here. Item 11 details the franchisor’s obligations, including the technology mandates noted above. For software vendors, the most actionable sections are Items 8 and 11, though Item 8 is silent in the available extract. Review the renewal conditions in Item 17 to understand when franchisees face mandatory upgrades. If you sell software into this system, FranCloud can help you build a ranked target list of the operators most likely to adopt new tools.
Questions vendors ask
Buffalo Wild Wings, answered from the filing
Technology decisions are driven by C-suite executives including Yasir Anwar (Chief Technology & AI Acceleration Officer) and Haddon Bennett (Chief Information Security Officer), per the 2026 FDD.
The 2026 FDD mandates Franchise Sales Automation (FSA), its electronic data interface, and an integrated online ordering solution. No specific POS vendor is named in the disclosed mandates.
The system totals 1,178 US units, split between 629 company-owned and 549 franchised locations, according to the latest FDD.
The procurement model is not disclosed in the most recent FDD. Item 8 does not specify designated or approved supplier requirements in the available extract.
Renewal terms run 10 years, requiring notice 6–12 months before expiration. The initial 20-year term and recent 2.045% unit growth suggest periodic modernization-driven openings.
The 2026 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can view it directly in the embedded PDF viewer below on this page.
Source
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Buffalo Wild Wings files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
739 operators run 739 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit739
Top states by locations
| OH | 60 |
|---|---|
| IN | 45 |
| MI | 41 |
| IL | 38 |
| TX | 31 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Buffalo Wild Wings
strategic_multibrand of Inspire Brands.
Sibling brands
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.