Sept 15, 2020

Freedom Boat Club, a division of Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC), has been ranked in the Top 100 in Entrepreneur magazine’s first Top Growth Franchises list. This list recognizes the 150 companies with the greatest positive franchise unit growth in North America over a three-year period, based on data submitted for Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500® ranking. Freedom Boat Club is the largest boat club in the world with close to 240 locations in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
 
“We are honored to be named by Entrepreneur Magazine to its Top Growth Franchises list,” said Brenna Preisser, Brunswick Corporation President, Business Acceleration and Chief People & Strategy Officer.  “Freedom added close to 140 new clubs around the world over the past three years and recently eclipsed 50,000 members.  Boating participation accelerated this summer and most of our locations have seen record growth.  We are pleased that this expansion includes attracting a younger demographic and more women into Freedom clubs. We are thankful for our Franchisee’s who operate as partners, have adapted during these dynamic times and are leaning into strong consumer demand for boating experiences.”
 
“By maintaining steady, sustained growth over several years, these franchises have demonstrated that they have the systems in place to support their franchisees and help them become successful,” says Jason Feifer, Entrepreneur’s editor-in-chief. “Now as these and other companies around the country face unprecedented challenges, they may see their growth slow, but that record of success could prove more important than ever.”
 
To determine the 2020 Top Growth Franchises ranking, Entrepreneur looked at each company’s U.S. and Canadian franchise numbers over a three-year period (from July 2016 to July 2019; given the rapid changes, COVID-19 impacts weren’t taken into account). In order to qualify, companies had to have positive growth of at least five units each year. They were ranked based on a formula that considers their total positive U.S. and Canadian franchise growth over the three years as well as factors that negatively affect growth, such as terminations, non-renewals, and other closures.
 
To view Freedom in the full ranking, visit entrepreneur.com/franchises/topgrowth. Results can also be seen in the September issue of Entrepreneur, on sale now.