Big Chicken franchise
2025 filing · April 30, 2025Growing
Big Chicken at a glance
A fast-casual chicken restaurant serving chicken sandwiches, tenders, sides and shakes. At the end of 2024 there were 24 Big Chicken locations in the US, 22 franchised and 2 company-owned.
The business
- Franchisor
- BC Licensing LLC
- The company that sells the franchises
- Franchisor based in
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Typical size
- 1,800–2,800 sq ft
What you pay
- Cost to open
- $682K–$1.54M
- Fee, build-out and opening working capital
- Franchise fee
- $40,000
- Paid once, when you sign
- Royalty
- 6%
- 6% of gross sales, paid weekly
- Brand fund
- 2%
- 2% of gross sales
- Renewal fee
- $5,000
- When the agreement ends and you sign again
- Agreement length
- 10 years
- Territory
- Protected
- Protected territory
- Franchisor financing
- None offered
Where it is
- US locations, 2024
- 24
- Franchised and company-owned
- Franchised
- 22
- Company-owned
- 2
- Change in 3 years
- +22
- Franchised locations, 2022–2024
- States
- 12
- Most in Nevada, Texas and Washington
Support and records
- Lawsuits disclosed
- Yes
- Franchisor revenue, 2024
- $3.99M
- The company, not one location
- Franchisor net income
- $597K
- Latest filing
- Apr 30, 2025
- 2025 filing
From BC Licensing LLC’s 2025 filing; revenue and net income from its audited financial statements, page 318; 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
Big Chicken among all franchises with the same figure.
| Figure | Big Chicken | Among all franchises |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, midpointHalfway between the low and high estimate | $1,108,500 | Costs more than 85% of franchises |
| Franchise feePaid once, when you sign | $40,000 | Lower than 46% of franchises |
| RoyaltyShare of sales paid to the franchisor | 6% | Higher than 35% of brands with a set rate |
| US locationsFranchised and company-owned | 24 | More than 52% of franchises |
How much a Big Chicken franchise costs
Opening one Big Chicken costs an estimated $681,500 to $1,535,500. That covers the franchise fee and everything else needed to open, through the first months of working capital.
Source: BC Licensing LLC, 2025 filing, page 1
Big Chicken franchise fee
The franchise fee is $40,000. You pay it when you sign the franchise agreement.
Source: BC Licensing LLC, 2025 filing, page 18
Royalty and ongoing fees
| Royalty | 6% of gross sales, paid weekly. |
|---|---|
| Brand or marketing fund | 2% of gross sales. |
| Technology Fee | $30 per week |
| Transfer Fee - Qualified Transfers | $1,500 per Qualified Transfer. |
| Renewal Fee | $5,000 |
| Additional Certified Manager Training Program after Opening Date | $5,000 per 15-day Orientation Certified Manager Training Program |
| Local Advertising | 1.5% of Gross Sales |
The typical franchise royalty is 6% of sales, plus 2% for marketing. See franchise fees and royalties to compare.
Source: BC Licensing LLC, 2025 filing, page 20
Other fees as filed, from pages 20–23. The filing lists every fee, including late fees and audit costs.
Sales and earnings
No figures Big Chicken does not share sales or profit figures for its locations. Talking to current and former franchise owners is the usual way to learn what a location earns.
Source: BC Licensing LLC, 2025 filing, page 86
- Estimate Estimated yearly sales per location
- $940K–$1.7M
Estimated from the sales that 292 comparable franchises file, matched on industry, format, cost to open, fees and size.
SBA loans to Big Chicken franchisees
Lenders approved 10 SBA 7(a) loans for Big Chicken franchisees from 2022 to 2026, $7.21M in all. One has been paid in full; none was charged off. The other 9 haven’t ended 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 Big Chicken compares
Of the 113 chicken franchises on this site, Big Chicken is the 82nd cheapest to open and the 36th largest by number of locations.
| Figure | Big Chicken | Typical chicken brand | Typical franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, low end | $682K | $407K | $222K |
| Cost to open, high end | $1.54M | $868K | $477K |
| Franchise fee | $40K | $35K | $40K |
| Royalty | 6% | 5% | 6% |
| Brand fund | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| US locations | 24 | 10 | 21 |
| Closed or left per year | 45% | 4.5% | – |
| Shares earnings figures | No | 61 of 113 | 2,147 of 3,352 |
Typical is the median across the 113 brands in chicken franchises; typical franchise, across every brand here.
Locations opened and closed
| Year | Franchised | Company-owned | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 0 (0) | 2 | – | – |
| 2022 | 3 (+3) | 2 | +3 | 0 |
| 2023 | 10 (+7) | 3 | +7 | 0 |
| 2024 | 22 (+12) | 2 | +21 | −9 |
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: chicken franchise costs and franchise failure rates.
Over 4 years, from the start of 2021 to the end of 2024, franchised locations went from 0 to 22 (+22). The earlier years come from the brand's 2024 filing.
Source: BC Licensing LLC, 2025 filing, page 87
2021: BC Licensing LLC, 2024 filing, page 86
Where Big Chicken locations are
At the end of 2024, Big Chicken had locations in 12 states. The most are in Nevada, Texas and Washington.
- Nevada4
- Texas4
- Washington4
- Michigan3
- Tennessee2
- Arizona1
| State | Franchised | Company-owned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Texas | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Washington | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Michigan | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Arizona | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Illinois | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mississippi | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| New Jersey | 1 | 0 | 1 |
All 12 states
| Ohio | 1 |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 1 |
Source: BC Licensing LLC, 2025 filing, page 88
Who owns Big Chicken?
Big Chicken franchises are sold by BC Licensing LLC. It is a subsidiary of BCIP LLC.
Big Chicken is one of the 5 Craveworthy Brands franchises here.
Famous part-owners of the franchisor: Shaquille O’Neal (owns, as of 2025).
From BC Licensing LLC’s 2025 filing, page 8.
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 16. |
|---|---|
| Bankruptcy | No bankruptcy of the franchisor. An executive was an officer of Roti Restaurants, which filed for Chapter 11 in August 2024. |
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: BC Licensing LLC, 2025 filing, litigation on page 16, bankruptcy on page 17
Big Chicken filings
A franchisor files a new disclosure each year it sells franchises. The figures on this page come from BC Licensing LLC’s 2025 filing, issued April 30, 2025; the earlier ones below are on record with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and fill in older location counts.
| Filing | Issued | Registry | On this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 filing | April 30, 2025 | Minnesota | Costs, fees and locations, 2022–2024 |
| 2024 filing | – | Minnesota | Locations, 2021 |
Each link opens the filing as a PDF. See the newest filings across all brands.
Other chicken franchises
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