F45 Training

The vendor opportunity at F45 Training

F45 Training operates 708 total units, 706 of which are franchised, making it a substantial target for software vendors focused on the fitness franchise segment. The system posted an average unit volume of $480,832, though unit count contracted by roughly 6% year-over-year. For a vendor, the addressable market is essentially the entire franchise base—706 locations—because the franchisor mandates specific technology systems from the top down. There are only 2 company-owned locations, so a sale into the franchisor likely means deployment across nearly the whole network.

The opportunity hinges on whether your product complements or replaces a mandated component. With a 7% royalty and a 10-year initial term, franchisees operate on a model where HQ controls the tech stack tightly. The recent unit decline may signal a period of consolidation or operational refocus, which can open doors for efficiency-driving software.

Who controls software purchasing

Purchasing authority sits at headquarters in Texas. The FDD lists Thomas Dowd as Director and CEO, Luke Armstrong as Chief Revenue Officer, and Ryan Mayes as Chief Operating Officer. For a software vendor, the most likely buying-center contacts are Armstrong, whose revenue-focused role aligns with sales and marketing tools, and Mayes, whose operations purview covers the day-to-day tech that runs the studios. Patrick Grosso, as Chief Legal Officer and CFO, and Wade Baze, as Chief Accounting Officer, would be involved in any contract that carries a material financial or compliance footprint.

There is no multi-unit operator data in our corpus, which reinforces the HQ-centric purchasing model. You are not selling to a fragmented base of large franchisee groups; you are selling to a single, centralized buyer.

Mandated and current tech stack

The 2026 FDD is explicit: Mindbody by Mindbody, Inc. is a mandated system, alongside proprietary software programs. This means the core operational software—likely covering scheduling, point-of-sale, and membership management—is locked in. Franchisees do not have the option to substitute these systems.

For a vendor, this creates a clear boundary. You will not displace Mindbody as the operational backbone without a corporate-level strategic shift. However, gaps may exist around the proprietary programs. If you sell analytics, staff management, inventory, or member engagement tools that sit on top of or beside Mindbody, your path is through HQ integration approval. The absence of any other named vendors in the FDD suggests a deliberately narrow tech ecosystem.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

Item 8 of the FDD provides no extract on procurement restrictions, which is itself a signal. In practice, a mandated tech stack implies a designated-supplier model. Franchisees likely must purchase specified systems from specified vendors, with little to no local discretion.

Renewal conditions, detailed in Item 17, offer a potential entry point. Franchisees signing a 10-year renewal must accept the "then-current form of renewal franchise agreement, which may be materially different than the form attached." This clause allows the franchisor to impose new technology mandates at renewal. If F45 is approaching a wave of renewals from an earlier growth cohort, that represents a window where new software requirements can be introduced system-wide. The 2026 FDD filing itself may also signal an updated operational playbook, making this year a relevant time to engage.

How to read the F45 Training FDD

The full FDD is embedded below. For software vendors, the critical sections are Item 11 (the franchisor's obligations), where the mandated Mindbody and proprietary systems are listed, and Item 17 (renewal, termination, transfer), which spells out the conditions under which franchisees must adopt new agreement terms. Item 8, while silent here, typically governs supplier restrictions. Cross-reference these with the executive roster in Item 1 to map the buying center. FranCloud can help you build a ranked target list from this data.