Soccer Stars,

Every parent who has watched their child stand confused on a soccer field, receiving little more than a dismissive wave from an overwhelmed volunteer coach, understands the gap that Gustavo Szulansky set out to close. Szulansky, a native of Argentina and a New York City father of three, founded Soccer Stars in the year 2000 after witnessing firsthand the absence of fundamental instruction and authentic coaching engagement in his own son's youth soccer program. What began as a single-minded mission to build the best children's soccer program in the country has grown into a franchise organization that now serves more than 140,000 boys and girls annually, aged 12 months to 18 years, through 3,300 weekly classes held across more than 1,200 locations throughout the United States. Soccer Stars has cumulatively impacted over 2 million children through more than 100,000 classes, camps, and clinics each year, a scale of reach that positions this brand not merely as a local enrichment program but as a dominant force within the structured youth sports instruction category. The company operates under the umbrella of Youth Athletes United, a purpose-driven platform of youth sports franchises that acquired Soccer Stars as a cornerstone brand in 2018. Adam Geisler serves as CEO, supported by co-founders and executives including President John Erlandson, Chief Digital Officer Carmen Bellavia, and CFO Khalil Haddad. Headquarters are maintained in both Budd Lake, NJ and New York City, NY. Soccer Stars began franchising in 2022, and as of the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the network has grown to 147 franchised locations across 31 states plus Washington D.C., with a Soccer Stars Academy also delivering programming to thousands of children across more than 100 locations weekly in the United Kingdom. For franchise investors evaluating the youth sports instruction category, this profile represents independent, data-driven analysis drawn from FDD filings, disclosed financial performance data, and verified industry benchmarks — not marketing copy.

The youth sports industry in the United States is a $19 billion market, and it is expanding at a rate that consistently outpaces broader consumer spending on leisure and recreation. Several powerful secular trends are converging to drive that growth. First, parental investment in children's developmental activities has intensified over the past decade, with structured sports instruction increasingly viewed not as optional enrichment but as foundational childhood development. Second, the sport of soccer itself continues its long-run demographic expansion in the United States, fueled by the growing Hispanic and Latino population, rising media coverage through Major League Soccer and international tournaments, and the confirmed hosting of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on American soil — an event that will place youth soccer participation in the national spotlight in ways no prior generation of franchise operators has experienced. Third, the 12-months-to-18-years age band that Soccer Stars serves is among the most commercially durable in all of youth services: birthrates and parental income levels consistently drive demand regardless of economic cycle, and structured activity enrollment tends to be recession-resilient because parents prioritize child development spending even during household budget compression. The competitive landscape for youth soccer instruction specifically remains highly fragmented, with no single nationally dominant franchisor controlling more than a modest share of the total addressable market. That fragmentation creates a significant white-space opportunity for a brand with 25 years of curriculum development, a scalable franchise infrastructure, and proprietary technology already in place. Soccer Stars operates in identified hot markets including Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas — geographies that collectively represent the highest concentrations of the target demographic.

The Soccer Stars franchise investment is structured at a level that makes it one of the more accessible entry points in the enrichment and youth sports instruction category. The initial franchise fee is $49,500, a figure that sits at the lower end of what premium children's enrichment franchises typically command, where fees in the $50,000 to $75,000 range are common for brands with comparable curricula and support infrastructure. The total initial investment to open a single Soccer Stars location ranges from $70,350 to $102,250, with alternative sources citing ranges of $72,800 to $105,800 and, for broader build-out scenarios, $68,100 to $141,750. For investors interested in capturing multiple markets from the outset, a two-territory investment package carries a total range of $125,100 to $175,300. The spread within each investment range is primarily driven by geography, local market staffing costs, facility lease terms where applicable, and equipment and technology setup variables. Working capital requirements are estimated at $10,000 to $20,000, which is modest relative to brick-and-mortar franchise categories. The ongoing royalty fee is 8% of gross revenues, a rate that is slightly above the franchise industry median of approximately 5% to 7%, but which must be evaluated in the context of the comprehensive operational, curriculum, and technology platform that fee supports. Franchisees are required to demonstrate a minimum liquid capital position of $100,000 and a net worth of $250,000, benchmarks that are consistent across the brand's FDD disclosures and position Soccer Stars as a mid-tier investment requiring meaningful but not exceptional personal balance sheet strength. Soccer Stars offers financing options to qualified candidates and provides a discount for veterans, two accommodations that reflect the parent company Youth Athletes United's stated orientation toward purpose-driven franchisee selection. The brand's association with Franchise FastLane, recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine for franchise development excellence, adds institutional credibility to the investment process.

The daily operational model of a Soccer Stars franchise centers on the delivery of structured, curriculum-driven soccer instruction to children across multiple age cohorts simultaneously. Franchisees manage a coaching staff whose size scales with enrolled student volume, and the labor model is oriented around part-time and flexible coaching hires — typically individuals with athletic backgrounds who are trained to deliver the Soccer Stars proprietary curriculum rather than requiring pre-existing coaching credentials. This labor flexibility is a structural advantage in controlling staffing costs during the ramp period. The curriculum itself is franchisor-driven, broken into age-specific stages for participants ranging from 12 months through 18 years, and delivered through a mobile-friendly technology platform that gives coaches access to weekly lesson plans, activity execution videos, and engagement techniques without requiring complex independent preparation. Initial training for new franchisees totals 58 hours, comprising 18 hours of classroom instruction and 40 hours of on-the-job training, supplemented by virtual pre-training and onboarding, 3.5 days of in-person training at corporate headquarters, and in-market grand opening support that helps franchisees generate their initial enrollment wave. A five-day in-person training program covering curriculum-based instruction and hands-on coaching methodology provides the operational fluency needed to train and supervise coaching staff from day one. Ongoing support includes access to the experienced operations team within Youth Athletes United, computer and technology platform support, and the marketing and sales systems developed across the brand's 25-year operating history. Franchisees operate within exclusive territories, a structural protection that is particularly important in a community-based service model where local brand recognition and school and park district relationships are central competitive assets. The model is designed for an owner-operator who is actively engaged in local community marketing and partnership development, though the curriculum delivery itself is executed by employed coaches.

Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document available through the PeerSense database. However, the research record contains disclosed financial performance representations from both the 2023 and 2024 FDDs that provide material insight into what unit-level economics can look like across the system. According to 2023 FDD data, Soccer Stars franchise owners generated an Average Revenue of $162,958 with an Average Gross Profit of $95,038 — representing a gross profit margin of approximately 58%, which is structurally consistent with a service-based franchise that carries minimal physical inventory. A separate 2023 FDD data point indicates an Average Total Revenue of $1,432,614 with $635,523 in Net Operating Income, representing a 44% operating margin, figures that reflect the consolidated performance of the broader operation including corporate units. The 2024 FDD provides a more granular breakdown: corporately owned units generated Average Gross Revenue of $1,849,550 and Average Gross Profits of $981,336, while the top 25% of franchise owners produced Average Gross Revenue of $283,593 and Average Gross Profits of $171,752. The divergence between corporate unit performance and franchise unit performance is a critical data point for prospective investors and reflects both the maturity advantage of corporate locations, which have been operating since the brand's 2000 founding, and the early-stage status of the franchise network, which only began franchising in 2022. For a franchise that launched its franchising program just three years ago, top-quartile franchisees generating $283,593 in gross revenue against a total investment ceiling of approximately $102,250 suggests a payback trajectory that merits serious financial modeling. Profit is a function of revenue minus operating costs including labor, facility or park permit fees, marketing, technology, insurance, and royalties, and individual outcomes will vary materially based on territory density, local competitive dynamics, and the franchisee's effectiveness at community marketing and enrollment conversion.

Soccer Stars has followed a rapid growth trajectory since entering franchising in 2022, reaching 147 franchised locations across 31 states plus Washington D.C. as of the 2025 FDD — a pace of unit expansion that represents one of the more aggressive ramp rates among youth enrichment franchises that launched in the post-pandemic period. The brand's 25-year operational history prior to franchising provided a proven curriculum, established brand equity, and refined operational systems that newer franchise concepts cannot offer, compressing the typical learning curve that characterizes early-stage franchise network development. The parent company structure through Youth Athletes United creates additional competitive insulation: franchisees benefit from shared infrastructure, cross-brand operational learnings, and the institutional resources of an organization whose stated mission is scaling purpose-driven youth sports brands nationwide. The proprietary mobile-friendly curriculum delivery platform represents a genuine technology moat — coaches and franchisees access weekly lesson plans, coaching videos, and engagement tools through a single integrated system that would require significant capital to replicate independently. Looking ahead, the brand's positioning to benefit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup's expected surge in youth soccer participation in the United States is a time-bound demand catalyst that investors evaluating the franchise opportunity today can reasonably expect to capitalize on during the opening years of their franchise agreement. Internationally, the Soccer Stars Academy operating in the United Kingdom delivers programming to thousands of children across more than 100 locations weekly, demonstrating that the curriculum and operational model translates beyond the U.S. market and signals the brand's stated ambition to expand "both nationwide and abroad." Dean Simpson as Chief Marketing Officer and Director of Programs, combined with Toby Tenenbaum as Managing Director of Stars Premier, rounds out a leadership team with clear programmatic and growth-oriented mandates.

The ideal Soccer Stars franchisee is a community-oriented entrepreneur with a genuine passion for youth development and a background in either sports, education, youth services, or local business management. Prior soccer-specific expertise is not required — the 58-hour training program and proprietary curriculum platform are designed to equip franchisees who come from non-coaching backgrounds with everything needed to train and supervise a coaching staff effectively. The model is best suited to owner-operators who are prepared to invest personally in local relationship-building: school district partnerships, park and recreation department agreements, community event presence, and parent referral networks are the primary growth levers at the unit level. Multi-territory investment is available, with two-territory packages ranging from $125,100 to $175,300, and the brand's expansion map covering all 50 states plus Washington D.C. means that available territories remain plentiful across most geographies outside of the most saturated existing markets. Hot markets identified by the brand include Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas — geographies where youth population density, household income levels, and existing soccer participation rates create favorable unit-level demand conditions. The franchise network serves children aged 12 months to 18 years, a span that allows franchisees to develop long-duration customer relationships as children progress through the Soccer Stars curriculum stages over years rather than months. Candidates should meet the minimum liquid capital threshold of $100,000 and net worth requirement of $250,000 and should be prepared to engage actively with local community marketing from the pre-opening phase forward.

For investors conducting structured due diligence on youth sports franchise opportunities, Soccer Stars presents a data-supported case that deserves serious evaluation. The brand's founding in 2000, its 25-year curriculum development history, the 2022 franchising launch that has already produced 147 locations, and its position within a $19 billion industry heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup cycle create a confluence of maturity and growth-stage timing that is uncommon in franchise investing. The total investment range of $70,350 to $102,250, combined with a top-quartile franchisee gross revenue figure of $283,593 from the 2024 FDD, indicates a potential return profile that rewards effective operators in well-selected territories. The 8% royalty rate and the $49,500 franchise fee are important cost-of-ownership factors that must be modeled against territory-specific revenue projections, and the gap between corporate unit performance at $1,849,550 in average gross revenue and early-stage franchise unit performance is the single most important variable for prospective franchisees to interrogate during the validation process. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI scores — Soccer Stars currently carries a score of 65, rated Strong — location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow investors to benchmark Soccer Stars against every competing youth sports and enrichment franchise in the category. The Soccer Stars FPI score of 65 reflects a brand with demonstrated operational history, a growing network, and a support infrastructure backed by Youth Athletes United and Franchise FastLane. Explore the complete Soccer Stars franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.