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

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

	Marco's Pizza	Papa John's
Disclosure honesty	B	C
Investment from	$286,477	$281,485
Total fees	11%	11%
Outlets	1,139	3,294
Lawsuits	4	3

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.

Papa John's: what their numbers say

Sales data for 2,837 standard restaurants (2025): median $1.07M system-wide, average $1.12M. Top 25% averaged $1.64M. No Non-Traditional/Small-Town data provided.

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