How Much Does an American Poolplayers Association Franchise Owner Make?

It says no system earnings number at all. This is an official finding for the current U.S. territory format: Item 19 states that American Poolplayers Association, Inc. does not make representations about future franchisee financial performance or past company-owned or franchised outlet performance. It supplies no average sales, median sales, operating profit, EBITDA, owner compensation, or percentage-achieving result. (2026 disclosure, Item 19, page 57.)

That absence matters because revenue cannot be inferred from Item 20 outlet counts, the initial investment, the size of the national membership network, or isolated franchisee testimonials. The Federal Trade Commission explains that franchisors are not required to make an Item 19 claim, but any claim they do make must have a reasonable basis and appear in the FDD. Buyers should request written substantiation for any separate income projection. See the FTC consumer guide to buying a franchise.

The estimate starts with team-based Basic Weekly Fee revenue, then applies a broad government expense benchmark. It is estimated—not official—and covers one U.S. territory for an illustrative mature operating year. Every scenario uses a different team count, Basic Weekly Fee, active-week assumption, all-in residual margin, and owner-labor value.

• Team counts of 75, 125, and 200 are editorial scale cases. They are not a system average, median, quartile, or probability distribution. The 100-team figure is used only as a structural reference because Item 15 says the franchisor generally will not even consider management delegation until that level is reached.
• Basic Weekly Fees of $25, $30, and $35 are analytical assumptions. The League Operator may set the local Weekly Team Fee, while the disclosure does not state the Basic Weekly Fee/Players Fund split. The official league-fee rules confirm that each League Operator establishes the local amount. Public local examples show total Weekly Team Fees of $40 in Sacramento and $50 in Northwest Missouri. Those local totals are not national same-brand revenue evidence, so the model uses lower Basic Weekly Fee inputs and excludes the Players Fund.
• Active weeks of 48 to 50 are editorial assumptions. The disclosure describes year-round league play over three sessions but also notes that summer participation can decline. The model does not assume every team is billed for all 52 weeks.
• The central residual ratio is 20.1%. U.S. Census Bureau Service Annual Survey data show $21.495 billion of 2022 revenue and $17.178 billion of expenses for NAICS 71399 employer firms, producing a 20.08% revenue-minus-expense residual. The scenarios use that ratio minus three percentage points, the central ratio, and plus three percentage points.
• The owner-labor component uses BLS wage percentiles. The scenarios use $61,060, $79,520, and $104,770—the May 2025 25th percentile, median, and 75th percentile annual wages for Entertainment and Recreation Managers, Except Gambling. This is a labor-value proxy, not a promised salary or cash distribution.

Owner involvement changes the interpretation more than it changes the business cash itself. The official 2026 FDD requires the designated Manager to personally manage the U.S. Franchised League. The franchisor generally will not consider delegation until the Conditional Term is completed and at least 100 teams regularly participate, and it may still refuse. Therefore, the normal case is active owner management—not passive ownership. (2026 disclosure, Item 15, page 50.)

The lower figures below are the estimated residual business profit after an all-in employer-firm expense allowance. The upper figures add the estimated market value of the owner's management labor. That added amount is compensation for work performed; it is not passive business profit, a guaranteed salary, or an extra cash payment automatically made by the company.

The 20% royalty on the Basic Weekly Fee is the dominant disclosed recurring franchise charge. This is official 2026 FDD evidence for the U.S. league format. Other recurring or potentially recurring obligations include software support, insurance, computer maintenance, and an approved advertising plan. The model treats the Census expense ratio as all-in and therefore does not subtract these fees a second time.

Because the U.S. Census benchmark is an all-in revenue/expense relationship and does not separately identify franchise royalties, subtracting the 20% royalty again would create an unsupported double charge. This is also a limitation: the broad benchmark may not reflect the system's exact fee mix or home-based territory economics.

Team count and the Basic Weekly Fee are the largest modeled earnings drivers, while the undisclosed Players Fund split is the largest unresolved measurement issue. This is an estimated conclusion for a U.S. territory, not an official system finding. The model also has material sensitivity to staffing, collections, local marketing, travel and tournament administration, territory demographics, and the amount of owner time required.

The NAICS match is also imperfect. The Census definition for NAICS 713990 includes recreational sports teams and leagues, pool halls, billiard parlors, and other amusement and recreation businesses. This is a territory-based league business rather than a typical recreational facility, so the 20.1% residual ratio is a broad proxy, not a same-brand margin.

A buyer should replace every major scenario assumption with territory-specific written evidence. This is a verification requirement, not an earnings claim. The relevant population is the specific U.S. territory being offered and, where possible, mature territories with similar demographics, team counts, staffing, and fee structures.

• Ask for the franchisor's written substantiation for any sales, profit, salary, cash-flow, or team-growth statement made outside Item 19, and reconcile it to the 2026 FDD.
• Obtain the current recommended Weekly Team Fee and the exact Basic Weekly Fee/Players Fund allocation for the offered territory.
• Request anonymized or permissioned operating statements showing team count, billable weeks, collections, royalty, payroll, local marketing, travel, tournaments, technology, insurance, and owner compensation.
• Use Item 20 and Exhibit Q to interview current and former League Operators. Ask separately about mature versus developing territories, owner hours, assistants, team retention, summer seasonality, and management delegation.
• Confirm whether a paid manager is contractually permitted in the buyer's circumstances. Item 15's 100-team reference is not automatic approval.
• Keep debt service separate. Item 10 says the franchisor does not generally offer financing or guarantee obligations, so loan amount, rate, term, and principal repayment are buyer-specific. Personal income taxes are also excluded.

The strongest defensible range from the available evidence is about $76,000 to $186,000 of estimated annual owner-operator benefit, with a $117,000 base scenario. It is scenario-based, not official, and applies to one U.S. territory in an illustrative operating year. Within that total, estimated residual business profit is only about $15,000 to $81,000; the balance represents the modeled value of active management labor.