Little Diggers franchise
2026 filing · April 28, 2026Shares sales figures
Little Diggers at a glance
An indoor sand play space for young children, with open play and parties. At the end of 2025 there were 3 Little Diggers locations in the US, all company-owned.
The business
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Franchisor
- Little Diggers Franchising, LLC
- The company that sells the franchises
What you pay
- Cost to open
- $350K–$495K
- Fee, build-out and opening working capital
- Franchise fee
- $50,000
- Paid once, when you sign
- Royalty
- 8%
- 8% of net sales with a minimum of $500 a week, paid weekly, plus 2% to advertising (at least $125 a week)
Where it is
- US locations, 2025
- 3
- Franchised and company-owned
- Franchised
- 0
- Company-owned
- 3
From Little Diggers Franchising, LLC’s 2026 filing; revenue and net income from its audited financial statements, page 144; SBA status from the SBA Franchise Directory, October 28, 2026.
Franchisor revenue is the company that sells the franchises (royalties, fees and anything else it earns), not what a location makes.
Where it ranks
Little Diggers among all franchises with the same figure.
| Figure | Little Diggers | Among all franchises |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, midpointHalfway between the low and high estimate | $422,593 | Costs more than 57% of franchises |
| Franchise feePaid once, when you sign | $50,000 | Higher than 70% of franchises |
| RoyaltyShare of sales paid to the franchisor | 8% | Higher than 85% of brands with a set rate |
| US locationsFranchised and company-owned | 3 | Fewer than 78% of franchises |
How much a Little Diggers franchise costs
Opening one Little Diggers costs an estimated $349,760 to $495,425. That covers the franchise fee and everything else needed to open, through the first months of working capital.
Source: Little Diggers Franchising, LLC, 2026 filing, page 23
Little Diggers franchise fee
The franchise fee is $50,000. You pay it when you sign the franchise agreement.
Source: Little Diggers Franchising, LLC, 2026 filing, page 12
Royalty and ongoing fees
| Royalty | 8% of net sales with a minimum of $500 a week, paid weekly, plus 2% to advertising (at least $125 a week). |
|---|
The typical franchise royalty is 6% of sales, plus 2% for marketing. See franchise fees and royalties to compare.
Source: Little Diggers Franchising, LLC, 2026 filing, page 13
Sales and earnings
Shares figures Little Diggers publishes sales or earnings figures for its locations. The full tables, with notes on which locations are counted, are in its filing.
- Average sales
- $475,818
Yearly figures for 2025, covering company-owned play facilities open all of 2025. The average is about 1.1 times the midpoint of the cost to open.
Sales are what a location takes in before rent, payroll, royalties and other costs, not what its owner keeps.
Source: Little Diggers Franchising, LLC, 2026 filing, pages 46–47
SBA loans to Little Diggers franchisees
Lenders approved 4 SBA 7(a) loans for Little Diggers franchisees in 2026, $1.5M in all. None has been paid off or charged off yet.
A charged-off loan is one written off as uncollectible. See SBA franchise loans for how 7(a) and 504 loans work.
Source: SBA 7(a) and 504 loan data, as of September 30, 2026
How Little Diggers compares
Of the 168 entertainment franchises on this site, Little Diggers is the 97th cheapest to open and the 103rd largest by number of locations.
| Figure | Little Diggers | Typical entertainment brand | Typical franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, low end | $350K | $286K | $222K |
| Cost to open, high end | $495K | $598K | $477K |
| Franchise fee | $50K | $45K | $40K |
| Royalty | 8% | 6% | 6% |
| US locations | 3 | 8 | 21 |
| Shares earnings figures | Yes | 113 of 168 | 2,147 of 3,352 |
Typical is the median across the 168 brands in entertainment franchises; typical franchise, across every brand here.
Locations opened and closed
| Year | Franchised | Company-owned |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0 (0) | 1 |
| 2024 | 0 (0) | 2 |
| 2025 | 0 (0) | 3 |
Closed or left counts terminations, non-renewals, locations bought back by the franchisor and locations that stopped operating.
See which brands grew most in the fastest-growing franchises rankings.
More in the guides: franchise failure rates.
Source: Little Diggers Franchising, LLC, 2026 filing, page 49
Who owns Little Diggers?
Little Diggers franchises are sold by Little Diggers Franchising, LLC.
From Little Diggers Franchising, LLC’s 2026 filing.
Lawsuits and bankruptcy
| Lawsuits and regulatory actions | Yes. The filing describes past or pending cases involving the franchisor, its affiliates or its executives on page 5. |
|---|---|
| Bankruptcy | None. The filing says no bankruptcy has to be disclosed. |
Franchisors must disclose lawsuits and bankruptcies involving the company, its parents and affiliates, and its executives. Many cases are routine disputes with franchisees over fees or contracts; read the descriptions in the filing and ask current owners about anything that worries you.
Source: Little Diggers Franchising, LLC, 2026 filing, litigation on page 5, bankruptcy on page 11
Little Diggers filings
The figures on this page come from Little Diggers Franchising, LLC’s 2026 filing, issued April 28, 2026, on record with the NASAA Electronic Filing Depository.
| Filing | Issued | Registry | On this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 filing | April 28, 2026 | NASAA depository | Costs, fees and locations, 2023–2025 |
Each link opens the filing as a PDF. See the newest filings across all brands.
