Marco's PizzaFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Marco's Pizza franchise requires a total initial investment of $287K – $807K, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.5% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $934K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 7.6% charge-off rate across 460 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $287K – $807K
- 57th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $934K
- 32nd pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.5%
- 40th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 1,159
- 94th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 7.6%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
16 legal cases disclosed in the FDD. Read Item 3 before signing.
Large franchise systems benefit from brand recognition, supply chain leverage, and proven operations.
Bottom line
- Total investment $287K – $807K including a $25K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $934K/year (median $886K).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 26/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 7.6% across 460 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- 16 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3, higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Marco’s Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- Marco’s Pizza Holdings, LLC (MPH)
- Ultimate parent
- MP Marks, LLC
- Predecessor
- and Certain Affiliates
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Co-Chief Executive Officer and President
- John (Jack) A. Butorac, Jr.
- CEO experience
- 20 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- OH
- HQ
- 5252 Monroe Street, Toledo, Ohio 43623
- Auditor
- BDO USA, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $111.7M
- vs $121.9M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Independent franchisee associations
- Independent Franchisee Association
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- has ever engaged in
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Marco's Pizza franchisees operate fast-casual pizza restaurants focused on quality ingredients and quick service. Day-to-day operations include managing kitchen staff, maintaining food quality standards, inventory management, customer service, and local marketing to drive sales toward the $934K system average.
- CEO
- John (Jack) A. Butorac, Jr.
- Headquarters
- OH
- Founded
- 2003
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 34
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $25K | $25K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $9K | $30K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $253K | $752K |
| Total initial investment | $287K | $807K |
Source: Marco's Pizza 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$107K
11.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
19%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.3 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $287K – $807K
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $9K – $30K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $1K – $25K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.5%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 5.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.5% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $111 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $6K |
| Inventory (initial) | $21K – $30K |
| Total fee load | 10.5% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $934K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $886K
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 955 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $340K→$2.2M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $586K→$1.4M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Marco's Pizza Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 1,159
- Opened
- 68
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 19
- Turnover rate
- 1.6%
- Company-owned
- 45
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 96%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +4.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +9.4%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 43
- Closed (3yr)
- 7
- Terminated (3yr)
- 21
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 80
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 4
- Franchisor bought back
- Transfer rate
- 7.2%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 1.9%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 0.6%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 25 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- California
- Indiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- New York
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 460
- Loan volume
- $164.4M
- Median loan
- $345K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 7.6%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 92.4%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 4.8%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 95
- Defaults
- 21
Vintage analysis
Marco's Pizza charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Marco's Pizza's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 31-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Marco's Pizza presents moderate-to-cautionary risk due to undisclosed profitability metrics, multiple active litigation cases, sluggish growth, and collection actions suggesting potential franchisee performance or compliance issues.
Litigation (Item 3)
18 case reference(s): 1 pending, 1 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $4
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · BDO USA, P.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 26 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo Item 19 (Average Net Income) disclosure — cannot verify actual profitability claims despite $934K average revenue
- 02HIGHMultiple ongoing litigation cases involving former area representatives (American Eagle, KAM Development) and franchisor collection actions suggest systemic relationship issues
- 03MINORSlow unit growth (4.0% YoY) combined with collection actions against former franchisees indicates potential performance/retention problems
- 04MINORHigh investment range ($286K-$807K) with 5.5% royalty lacks transparency on typical break-even timeline without net income data
- 05HIGHPattern of franchisor-initiated litigation (J&J ZA, FirstSlice, Cajunland Pizza) raises questions about enforcement practices and franchisee support quality
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory radius | 1 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 5 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Ohio |
| Litigation count | 16 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
18 case reference(s): 1 pending, 1 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 80 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 266 hrs
- Training location
- Marco's University and certified training store
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- joint
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- MOMS (Marco’s Order Management System)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: MOMS (Marco’s Order Management System)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
99 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Marco's Pizza · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Marco's Pizza franchise?
The total investment to open a Marco's Pizza franchise ranges from $287K – $807K, with an initial franchise fee of $25K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Marco's Pizza franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Marco's Pizza FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $934K. The median is $886K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Marco's Pizza's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Marco's Pizza has a charge-off rate of 7.6% across 460 loans, meaning 7.6% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Marco's Pizza franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Marco's Pizza has 1,159 total units in the United States, including 1,018 franchised units and 45 company-owned units. 68 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Marco's Pizza a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Marco's Pizza as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 26 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.