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Marco's Pizza vs Donatos Pizza — which franchise is the better buy?

Side by side from the public FDDs — no franchisor spin.

	Marco's Pizza	Donatos Pizza
Disclosure honesty	B	C
Investment from	$286,477	$541,818
Total fees	11%	5%
Outlets	1,139	176
Lawsuits	4	1

Marco's Pizza: what their numbers say

Net Royalty Sales for 997 stores open full 52-week period in 2025. Average $878,180; median $832,403. 29.8% exceeded $1M. Excludes new stores, special venues, international locations.

Donatos Pizza: what their numbers say

Discloses avg franchisee Net Sales (~$1.04M) and EBITDA% by sales tier. Lowest tier averages -0.5% EBITDA. Excludes owner compensation, depreciation, debt service, and 14 of 125 franchisees. Columbus market bias noted.

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