This is an independently estimated pre-tax owner-operator benefit for a Traditional Lil’ Kickers Program, not an official profit disclosure. The base scenario is about $80,000. After subtracting a $53,550 wage proxy for a paid recreation supervisor, the modeled manager-run residual falls to roughly $4,000–$53,000, with a base near $27,000. A Micro Lil’ Kickers Program models at approximately $19,000–$35,000 of owner-operator benefit, but a dedicated full-time manager would exceed that modeled benefit in all three scenarios.
2025 revenue per reporting location; it is not owner income.
2025 revenue for the one-field Micro reporting population.
Subject to annual minimums stated in Item 6.
Traditional and Micro cohorts, respectively; formats are not pooled.
Derived from IRS 2023 Educational Services receipts and net income less deficit.
BLS May 2025 mean wage for recreation supervisors, excluding benefits and payroll burden.
What does the Lil’ Kickers FDD actually report?
The official evidence reports Gross Sales, not owner earnings. The 2026 FDD’s Item 19 presents unaudited 2025 revenue and enrollment for Traditional and Micro reporting locations. It does not disclose wages, occupancy, coaching payroll, merchandise costs, operating profit, owner compensation, debt service, or personal taxes.
| 2025 Item 19 measure | Traditional | Micro | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting locations | 53 | 15 | Separate operating formats; Traditional locations used 79 fields in total, while all Micro locations used one field. |
| Average Gross Sales | $418,546.82 | $113,699 | The Traditional average is pulled upward by a very high reported location. |
| Median Gross Sales | $273,219 | $89,987 | The median is the central revenue anchor used in the scenarios. |
| Reported low | $71,909 | $40,830 | Observed revenue, not a guaranteed floor. |
| Reported high | $2,042,777 | $261,327 | Observed revenue, not a reasonable default forecast. |
| Locations at or above average Gross Sales | 16 of 53 (30%) | 7 of 15 (47%) | Confirms that the average is not the result achieved by most Traditional locations. |
Source: Lil’ Kickers Inc. 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, Item 19, pp. 40–45; Traditional Table 1, pp. 42–43; Micro Table 2, pp. 44–45.
Population limits matter. Item 19 excludes 13 Traditional locations opened during 2025, two that closed during 2025, five that did not operate for the full year, and six corporate locations. The Traditional narrative also contains a classification ambiguity: it describes 53 Table 1 locations as 49 traditional franchisees plus four legacy/licensee locations while separately excluding limited-license businesses. That inconsistency should be clarified in written substantiation rather than resolved by assumption.
How is the annual owner-earnings range calculated?
The scenario result is estimated by applying a broad owner-operated margin to FDD median Gross Sales. For each format, revenue is modeled at 80%, 100%, and 120% of the disclosed median because Item 19 gives no quartiles. The benchmark margin is 26.4%, 29.4%, and 32.4%, centered on an IRS Educational Services ratio.
Manager-run residual = owner-operator benefit − $53,550 BLS wage proxy. Results are rounded to the nearest $1,000 after full-precision calculations.
| Format and scenario | Revenue anchor | Margin | Owner-operator benefit | Manager-run residual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional — Conservative | $218,575 | 26.4% | $58,000 | $4,000 |
| Traditional — Base | $273,219 | 29.4% | $80,000 | $27,000 |
| Traditional — Upside | $327,863 | 32.4% | $106,000 | $53,000 |
| Micro — Conservative | $71,990 | 26.4% | $19,000 | −$35,000 |
| Micro — Base | $89,987 | 29.4% | $26,000 | −$27,000 |
| Micro — Upside | $107,984 | 32.4% | $35,000 | −$19,000 |
Annual pre-tax dollars; the owner-operator series includes the economic value of labor performed by the owner.
Interpretation: owner involvement is the dominant modeled earnings lever. The paid-manager series subtracts wages only; payroll taxes and benefits could reduce residual earnings further.
Sources: Lil’ Kickers Inc. 2026 FDD, Item 19, pp. 40–45; IRS nonfarm sole-proprietorship income statements, 2023 Table 2; BLS May 2025 national occupational wage table. Scenario spread and margin sensitivity are editorial assumptions.
How does owner involvement change what the owner may receive?
Direct owner operation can convert a manager payroll cost into owner labor value, but it does not create passive profit. Item 15 says Lil’ Kickers Inc. highly recommends owner participation but does not require personal supervision; the business must remain under the direct full-time supervision of a trained Designated Manager.
- Owner-operator benefit
- Modeled cash benefit before personal income tax and financing principal, including the economic value of management work performed by the owner. It is not pure business profit.
- Manager-run residual
- Owner-operator benefit less a $53,550 wage proxy for a recreation supervisor. Benefits, payroll taxes, recruiting, and coverage costs are not included, so actual manager expense may be higher.
- Debt service
- Not modeled. Item 10 states that the franchisor does not offer or guarantee financing. Financing principal must be paid from the owner’s residual cash; business interest is embedded imperfectly in the IRS benchmark.
- Personal taxes
- Not estimated. Entity structure, state, deductions, owner compensation policy, and individual circumstances determine after-tax take-home pay.
Sources: Lil’ Kickers Inc. 2026 FDD, Item 10, p. 17, and Item 15, pp. 31–32; BLS May 2025 wage data for First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services.
How much of median revenue is committed to recurring system fees?
At median Gross Sales, the directly quantifiable mature-year system fees total about $29,790–$43,530 for Traditional and $13,299–$27,039 for Micro. These derived figures include the 9% royalty, required monthly marketing range, annual training fee after year one, and either a DaySmart waiver or the stated $295 monthly facility fee.
Annual dollars; the line connects the low and high modeled fee configurations for each format.
Interpretation: fixed marketing, technology, and training charges consume a larger share of Micro median sales. This makes shared facility overhead and manager allocation especially important.
Source: derived from Lil’ Kickers Inc. 2026 FDD, Item 6, pp. 6–10, using Item 19 median Gross Sales. Low assumes $350 monthly marketing and a DaySmart waiver; high assumes $1,200 monthly marketing and $295 monthly DaySmart. Both include the annual $1,000 training fee after year one. Payment processing, required products, insurance, occupancy, payroll, and irregular charges are excluded.
The 9% royalty equals approximately $24,590 at Traditional median Gross Sales and $8,099 at Micro median Gross Sales, both above the post-first-year minimums of $9,000 and $5,000. Item 7 adds a separate occupancy warning: when a franchisee does not already control a facility, the franchisor’s predecessor experience indicates indoor-arena rent may reach 33% of Gross Sales or more. That is not included in the earnings scenarios because actual lease structures vary too widely.
Which variables can move actual earnings outside the range?
The largest uncertainty is the missing same-brand operating-expense statement. Item 19 gives revenue and enrollment but no location-level expense bridge, so the model cannot verify the actual relationship among coaching payroll, facility cost, required purchases, manager compensation, and owner labor.
- Revenue spread: 80%, 100%, and 120% of each format’s Item 19 median is an analytical spread, not a franchisor-reported distribution or probability forecast.
- Margin spread: the 29.4% IRS ratio is moved down and up by three percentage points. It is broad Educational Services tax data, while soccer instruction is more closely associated with Census NAICS 611620, Sports and Recreation Instruction.
- Facility economics: many reporting locations operate inside established arenas and may share rent, front-desk labor, administration, marketing support, and management. A new or separately leased location may not share those advantages.
- Field capacity: Traditional locations used one, two, or three-plus fields, and Item 19 says field sizes and actual use differ. Per-location sales are therefore not interchangeable with per-field economics.
- Cohort selection: new, partial-year, closed, and company-operated outlets were excluded from the Traditional table, so the published population is not a start-up-year forecast.
- Manager cost: the $53,550 BLS wage excludes payroll taxes and benefits and may be too low or high for a particular market, role scope, or shared-arena structure.
- Capital and financing: replacement equipment, system modifications, debt principal, and personal taxes are outside the modeled range. Business interest and depreciation are only indirectly embedded in the IRS benchmark.
What should a buyer verify before relying on this estimate?
A buyer should treat $58,000–$106,000 as a Traditional owner-operator scenario range, not a promised result. The most important driver is whether the owner supplies the Designated Manager labor and whether the facility shares occupancy and administrative overhead. The largest unresolved question is the actual expense structure of comparable reporting locations.
- Request the written substantiation for Item 19 and reconcile the 53-location Traditional population description, exclusions, field counts, and off-site-program treatment.
- Ask comparable Traditional or Micro franchisees for 2025 and current-year P&Ls showing coaching payroll, manager compensation, facility allocation, required products, payment processing, insurance, and all system fees.
- Separate owner salary or labor value from distributions and retained business profit; ask how many weekly hours the owner or Designated Manager works.
- Compare locations with the same number and size of fields, similar metropolitan demand, similar facility ownership, and a similar mix of classes, camps, parties, and off-site programs.
- Stress-test the site with actual lease or internal facility-allocation terms, especially if occupancy could approach the Item 7 arena-rent warning.
- Confirm in writing whether DaySmart is waived, the required marketing level, recurring product purchases, manager-training costs, and any negotiated royalty terms that apply to the proposed agreement.
- Follow the FTC’s Item 19 review guidance: compare the claim’s population with the planned operation and interview current and former franchisees listed in Item 20.