QuickBooks
Mandatorydesignee, or suppliers approved by DESTINATION ATHLETE®, or under its specifications. You are required to purchase appropriate business accounting software (we strongly recommend QuickBooks), which yo
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Destination Athlete
Youth servicesSoftware purchasing at Destination Athlete is controlled at the headquarters level, with a fully mandated tech stack that touches every franchised location. The system runs on a proprietary intranet, a branded e-commerce package, a Franchise Management System (FMS), and the Your Team Store platform across 296 units. For vendors selling operational, marketing, or back-office software, the addressable market is 296 franchised locations, all required to use HQ-specified systems.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
296
296 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
—
per unit
Investment range
$34K–$135K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
No 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.
7%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.
Facebook
or local or regional advertising cooperatives. Approved Regional names may only be used in email signatures, business cards, and approved social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram). Use in online
Instagram
or local or regional advertising cooperatives. Approved Regional names may only be used in email signatures, business cards, and approved social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram). Use in online
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
13 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 11 explicit no's; 10 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
The franchisor shall have independent access to the information that will be generated or stored in any computer system dedicated for use of the franchise business by the franchisee
How the franchisor buys
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
The criteria shall remain within the sole discretion of the franchisor, which may be changed from time to time without notice to the franchisee.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
The franchisor may derive modest revenue or other material consideration as a result of purchases of apparel, equipment, accessories or related durable goods or services.
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?
92.5Item 8
Purchases from approved suppliers/vendors……………….92.5%
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you wish to use any type or brand of product or service item, or wish to purchase products or services from a vendor that is not currently approved by us, you shall notify us of your desire to do so and submit to us specifications, photographs, samples and/or other information which we request.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
We will advise you from time-to-time regarding the operation of the Franchise based on reports you submit to us or through inspections we make.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Destination Athlete, LLC may supplement, revise, or modify the Manual, and Destination Athlete may change, add or delete System Standards at any time in its discretion.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
DESTINATION ATHLETE® may assist in this selection, but must approve the site selection.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesFranchise agreement
You must participate in our supply purchase program, under which you shall only purchase apparel, equipment, accessories or related durable goods or services (hereafter “products and services”) from us, or vendors we have pre-approved and with whom we have a supply agreement.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
You must participate in our supply purchase program, under which you shall only purchase apparel, equipment, accessories or related durable goods or services (hereafter “products and services”) from us, vendors or partners* we have pre-approved and with whom we have a supply agreement.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
implementation and modification of the electronic funds transfer system and procedures by means of which you will pay Royalties, contributions to the Marketing and Promotion Fund, amounts due for purchases of equipment, other products, materials and supplies from us and other amounts due us
Point of sale
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
The franchisor shall have independent access to the information that will be generated or stored in any computer system dedicated for use of the franchise business by the franchisee
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
Additional training programs, refresher or retraining courses shall be required and you will be notified in writing at least 90 days prior to the program/course, the cost of which shall be $250.00 per person and per session and/or topic, payable in advance by Franchisee.
The filing answers no to 11 questions
- Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?Item 8
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 11
- Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?Franchise agreement
- Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?Franchise agreement
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Franchise agreement
- Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Item 11
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11
- Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?Item 11
- Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?Item 11
The vendor opportunity at Destination Athlete
Destination Athlete operates 296 franchised locations in the youth-services segment, with headquarters in New Jersey. The brand does not report any company-owned units, meaning every location is a franchisee required to follow HQ’s technology mandates. For software vendors, this creates a single point of sale: the franchisor’s leadership team controls the tech stack, and all 296 units must adopt whatever systems HQ selects. The initial franchise term is 10 years, with a 5% royalty rate. Average unit volume is not disclosed in the 2026 FDD.
Who controls software purchasing
The buying center at Destination Athlete sits with the executive team named in Item 1 of the 2026 FDD. Founder and Chairman Douglas D. Dickison holds ultimate authority, supported by Executive Director Deb Gurski. Marketing technology decisions likely involve Senior Director of Marketing Deana VanDoren, while strategic platform choices may run through Senior Director of Strategy Drew Dickison. Franchise operations and compliance systems fall under Senior Director of Franchising Tricia Charbonneau. Vendors should expect a top-down evaluation process with no franchisee-level autonomy on core systems.
Mandated and current tech stack
Destination Athlete’s Item 11 disclosures mandate five systems across the network. The DESTINATION ATHLETE® intranet serves as the internal communication and resource hub. The DESTINATION ATHLETE® System appears to be the core operational platform, though its exact function is not detailed in the extract. The DESTINATION ATHLETE® web site and e-commerce package handles public-facing digital presence and online transactions. A Franchise Management System (FMS) manages franchise operations, compliance, and reporting. Finally, Your Team Store is mandated, likely covering uniform and equipment procurement. No third-party POS, CRM, or ERP vendors are named, suggesting these functions may be bundled into the proprietary systems or are simply not disclosed in the available data.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so the formal procurement model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier, or open—remains unknown. However, the mandatory nature of the tech stack strongly implies a designated-supplier approach for core systems. Renewal terms provide potential entry points for vendors. The initial 10-year agreement requires 180 days’ written notice before expiration. The franchisor then has 180 days to respond with a renewal notice or a list of deficiencies. A new agreement with materially different terms must be signed within 60 days of document delivery. Renewal terms run 5 years. These contract windows, when franchisees must accept new terms, may coincide with technology stack evaluations.
How to read the Destination Athlete FDD
The 2026 Destination Athlete FDD is embedded below for full review. Key sections for software vendors include Item 11 (mandated technology and systems), Item 1 (executive team and ownership structure), and Item 17 (renewal and contract timing). The brand appears independently owned, with no parent company on file. No operator-level contacts are mapped in our corpus, reinforcing the HQ-driven purchasing model. For a ranked target list of franchise systems that match your software category, talk to FranCloud.
Questions vendors ask
Destination Athlete, answered from the filing
The FDD lists Douglas D. Dickison (Founder/Chairman), Deb Gurski (Executive Director), Deana VanDoren (Senior Director of Marketing), Drew Dickison (Senior Director of Strategy), and Tricia Charbonneau (Senior Director of Franchising) as key executives. Marketing and strategy leadership are likely involved in vendor evaluation.
Destination Athlete mandates its proprietary DESTINATION ATHLETE® intranet, DESTINATION ATHLETE® System, DESTINATION ATHLETE® web site and e-commerce package, a Franchise Management System (FMS), and the Your Team Store platform. No third-party POS is disclosed.
The 2026 FDD reports 296 total units, all franchised. No company-owned units are disclosed. The brand operates in the youth-services segment.
The most recent FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract. The procurement model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier, or open—is not disclosed in the available data.
Franchise agreements run 10 years, with renewal terms of 5 years requiring 180 days’ written notice. Renewal windows, when franchisees must sign materially different agreements, may create openings for new vendor evaluation.
The 2026 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can view the embedded PDF viewer below to review the full document, including Item 11 tech mandates and Item 17 renewal conditions.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Destination Athlete files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
27 operators run 27 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit27
Top states by locations
| TX | 6 |
|---|---|
| NJ | 5 |
| TN | 3 |
| MD | 3 |
| NC | 3 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Destination Athlete
single_brand_holdco of Destination Athlete.
Sibling brands
Related Youth services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.