Highlights
- Every week, 5.0% of gross sales goes to the franchisor before rent, food or labor: royalty 5% of Gross Sales.p.30
- Opening one unit is estimated at $1,485,200 to $2,522,900, including a $15,000 initial fee.p.38
- Sonic discloses unit performance in Item 19.p.70
- The system went from 3,546 outlets at the start of 2023 to 3,412 at the end of 2025, a net loss of 134.p.74
- In 2025, closures of all kinds equalled 1.8% of the outlets open at the start of the year.
- Item 3 discloses 0 matters.p.26
Tools, from this filing's numbers
What Sonic takes off the top
Royalty 5% of Gross Sales, applied to your own sales estimate. The rates are the filing's; the sales are yours.
Sonic discloses no unit revenue, so start from a number you believe.
Cash you would need to open
The filing's Item 7 range, $1,485,200 to $2,522,900, is an estimate for one unit including only its first months. Slide between the low and high cases and add the months of runway you want beyond that.
Monthly operating cash is taken as one-twelfth of your weekly-sales figure above times 52, a placeholder for rent, labor and food until you have your own budget.
Where the units went in 2025
Every outlet that opened, and every one that left, drawn from Item 20 Table 3 to scale.p.79
Total outlets, 2022 to 2025
Compare Sonic with another brand
Side by side, every figure cited.
Fees (Items 5 and 6)
| Initial franchise fee, standard | $15,000 | p.28 |
| Royalty | 5% of Gross Sales | p.30 |
| Advertising fund | not stated | |
| Technology fee | held for review |
The filing lists every recurring and conditional fee in Item 6. The report carries all of them.
Estimated initial investment (Item 7)
| Expenditure | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $15,000 | $15,000 | p.37 |
| Travel and living expenses during training | $8,200 | $93,600 | p.37 |
| Crew training expenses | $15,200 | $42,500 | p.37 |
| Prepaid expenses | $2,000 | $125,000 | p.37 |
| Real property/occupancy charge | held | held | p.37 |
| Building costs | $600,000 | $800,000 | p.37 |
| Site work | $450,000 | $700,000 | p.38 |
| Restaurant equipment | $175,000 | $310,000 | p.38 |
| Point-of-sale system ("POS"), digital menu housings ("POPS") & other technology | $105,000 | $160,000 | p.38 |
| External Signage | $50,000 | $80,000 | p.38 |
| Beginning Inventory | $20,000 | $50,000 | p.38 |
| Advertising funds | $2,000 | $5,000 | p.38 |
| Insurance premiums | $11,000 | $22,000 | p.38 |
| Payroll | $26,800 | $94,800 | p.38 |
| Additional funds (3 months) | $5,000 | $25,000 | p.38 |
| Total | $1,485,200 | $2,522,900 | p.38 |
Revenue (Item 19)
Sonic reports a financial performance figure across 3057 outlets.p.70 What the figure measures, which units were excluded and what it leaves out are in the report.
Units (Item 20)
| Type | Year | Start | End | Net | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| franchised | 2023 | 3,220 | 3,194 | -26 | p.74 |
| company owned | 2023 | 326 | 327 | 1 | p.74 |
| total | 2023 | 3,546 | 3,521 | -25 | p.74 |
| franchised | 2024 | 3,194 | 3,144 | -50 | p.74 |
| company owned | 2024 | 327 | 317 | -10 | p.74 |
| total | 2024 | 3,521 | 3,461 | -60 | p.74 |
| franchised | 2025 | 3,144 | 3,120 | -24 | p.74 |
| company owned | 2025 | 317 | 292 | -25 | p.74 |
| total | 2025 | 3,461 | 3,412 | -49 | p.74 |
Openings and closures, system totals (Table 3)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3,220 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 3,194 | p.79 |
| 2024 | 3,194 | 30 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 3,144 | p.79 |
| 2025 | 3,144 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 3,120 | p.79 |
Litigation (Item 3)
0 pending cases described.p.26 Counts are of distinct matters as the filing describes them; the report carries each one in plain words.
Scorecard
Rank among the brands on this site that report the figure, on each list's own direction. No blended grade. How the lists work.
| Cost to open | $1,485,200 | 64 of 74 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | 5.0% | 3 of 59 |
| Three-year unit growth | -3.8% | 59 of 75 |
| Closure rate, 2025 | 1.8% | 45 of 71, 1 = most |
| Discloses unit revenue | yes | |
| Litigation disclosed | 0 | 40 of 68, 1 = most |
Source
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 640453, effective 3/26/2026, expires 3/26/2027. Extracted 2026-09-04 by two independent readers; only figures both agreed on, whose quoted words appear on the cited page, are shown. 7 fields held for review. How this works.