@franchise.times: Nearly four years ago, dozens of franchisees sued Premier Martial Arts, Unleashed Brands, franchise development firm Franchise Fastlane and others, claiming the defendants “engaged in an ongoing, multi-year, nationwide scheme to defraud hundreds of people into investing substantial sums of money to buy and attempt to operate martial arts studios as PMA franchises.” This week, Premier Franchising Group and its former franchise sales organization agreed to pay nearly $2 million to settle charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission that allege the companies made misleading representations about the Premier Martial Arts franchise opportunity and violated the Franchise Rule. The rule, in part, prohibits franchisors and other franchise sellers from making financial performance representations not included in Item 19 of the franchise disclosure document. The proposed order, which is awaiting final approval from a U.S. District Court judge, imposes a $3.87 million monetary judgement against Premier Franchising Group, to be partially suspended upon payment of $650,000. Franchise Fastlane agreed to pay $1.2 million under the order. This is the first time the FTC has pursued an enforcement action against a third-party franchise sales organization for an alleged violation of the Franchise Rule. The money, the FTC said in its announcement, will be used to compensate franchisees, and the agency is also requiring the franchisor to give certain franchisees the option to cancel their franchise agreements, without penalty. Neither company admitted to the allegations in the complaint as part of the settlement. According to the FTC’s complaint, Premier Franchising Group and Franchise Fastlane made deceptive and unsubstantiated claims that enticed more than 200 consumers to pay PFG an initial franchise fee of $49,500 or more to purchase a martial arts franchise. Those consumers, the FTC said, “incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional expenses to build out and operate their studios, with many assuming significant debt.” Central to the FTC’s complaint are what it called “misleading claims” of semi-absentee ownership, in which the two companies said franchisees could profitably operate one or multiple locations working less than 15 hours a week. The franchisor also deceived prospective owners by misrepresenting earnings in its FDD, the complaint says. Unleashed Brands, the multi-concept franchisor of seven youth enrichment brands including Urban Air Adventure Park and The Little Gym, purchased Premier Martial Arts in December 2021. Unleashed is owned by Seidler Equity Partners, a private equity firm whose portfolio also includes shaved ice franchise Kona Ice and gym chain LA Fitness. In a press release at the time of the sale, PMA said it had “quickly grown to 564 franchises sold to 228 owners.” In June 2023, Premier Martial Arts had approximately 272 locations; today its website lists 115. The brand’s franchise site, meanwhile, proclaims “200+ locations and growing.” Unleashed Brands, through a spokesperson, declined to make CEO Michael Browning or Premier Martial Arts Brand President Runfola available for interviews. PMA instead provided this statement: “This matter concerns the franchise sales and marketing practices of Premier Martial Arts before the brand joined the Unleashed Brands platform. With this behind us, we are glad to turn our full attention forward to supporting our dedicated franchise owners and serving the kids and families who count on Premier Martial Arts every day." The FTC’s complaint, however, includes allegations related to deceptive earnings claims in PMA’s 2022 franchise disclosure document, prepared and published after Unleashed acquired the brand. #franchise #settlement #martialarts

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Thursday 08 October 2026 16:09:05 GMT