Soccer 5 is a soccer facility franchise with six units in Florida.
Wonder Franchise isn’t interested in the hottest trends. Instead, the subsidiary of Tucker’s Farm Corporation looks for franchisors it considers fad-proof.
Its latest investment is in soccer, a sport growing in popularity in the United States going into the FIFA World Cup, which takes place across North America next year. Wonder acquired Soccer 5, a six-unit soccer facility brand.
“Obviously people have been playing soccer for a while. They’re probably going to continue playing soccer for a while,” said Kyle Tucker, a partner at Tucker’s Farm, a Bermuda-based goat farm-turned-investment-holding-vehicle. (The company still cares for about 20 Nubian half-pygmy goats.) “You have a lot of fad-y concepts. We always try to figure out stuff that’s going to be around for a while.”
Wonder’s other investments include Christmas Decor, a Christmas lights decorating company, and Pizza Factory, a 40-year-old pizza franchise. It was a minority owner of Vio Med Spa, which it sold last year.
Kyle Tucker is a partner at Tucker’s Farm Corporation.
The Montclair Group served as Wonder’s financial adviser and Viking Mergers & Acquisitions was Soccer 5’s adviser for this deal.
The World Cup acts as a near-term tailwind, Tucker said, and Soccer 5’s operations are fairly simple.
“One thing we liked about this business—beyond being AI-proof, tech-proof and fad-proof—was it’s a fairly simple business model,” he said.
The brand’s six units are in Florida, with more planned in the Sunshine State, plus New Jersey and Seattle. Customers can reserve fields online for matches, birthday parties and leagues.
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In warmer climates, such as Florida, facilities can be outdoors, but Wonder is working on an indoor prototype for markets that aren’t graced with warm weather year-round. Soccer 5’s facilities feature multiple fields and it offers a Soccer 5 Academy, which teaches kids how to play soccer competitively and for fun.
There aren’t a ton of soccer facility franchises, but some competitors include Urban Soccer Park and Deft Touch Soccer Center. Urban builds small soccer fields meant for five-player teams with a mission of bringing the sport to every neighborhood. Deft Touch is a training facility and has one location in Los Alamitos, California.
Soccer 5, founded in 2010, is Wonder’s smallest brand in terms of unit count; Pizza Factory has more than 100 restaurants and Christmas Decor has more than 200 territories. The company plans to grow primarily with corporate units but will bring in franchisees who are the right fit, Tucker said.
“The folks who founded the business … they’ve created a really great brand and a really great partnership model,” Tucker said. “We’re going to try to be the stewards of that brand for the next level and just grow it responsibly. We’re not interested in growth for growth’s sake.”