---
title: "Shaquille O'Neal's Big Chicken 45-Unit Agreement in Florida"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/18567a48-e180-4062-9985-1edfe0b8acf1
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20220902_shaquille_o39neal39s_big_chicken_45unit_agreement_in_florida.html
category: "Chicken"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Chicken"
published: 2022-09-02T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T01:12:20.713Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1555396273-367ea4eb4db5?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Shaquille O'Neal's Big Chicken 45-Unit Agreement in Florida

**TL;DR:** Big Chicken, a fast casual chicken restaurant franchise founded by Shaquille O'Neal, has announced a 45-unit deal in Florida. The deal, completed with DMD Ventures, encompasses several territories in Central and South Florida.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2022-09-02. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20220902_shaquille_o39neal39s_big_chicken_45unit_agreement_in_florida.html).*

## Story

The fast casual chicken restaurant franchise founded by basketball Hall of Famer and celebrated entrepreneur Shaquille O’Neal, announced today that the brand has inked a 45-unit deal that encompasses Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

Joining another deal that will place 40 units in the northern half of the state, the Central and South Florida territories included in this agreement close out availability of the brand to restaurant franchise investors.

Accomplished Florida commercial hospitality development company DMD Ventures completed the deal with Big Chicken.

“When we came across Big Chicken and looked into the concept, it became a no-brainer,” said Fred Burgess, principal, co-founder and co-CEO of DMD Ventures.

Owning and operating several successful franchise concepts including Twin Peaks®, Papa Johns®, IHG Hotels® and Go Minis Portable Storage® as well as shopping centers, DMD Ventures is a team of attorney’s, developers and hospitality leaders that have over 50 years of experience. At the core of their leadership are Co-CEOs Fred Burgess and Jack Flechner, who each bring extensive legal and hospitality experience to the table. Both Burgess and Flechner have served a tenure as President of the Twin Peaks Franchise Association and are regular speakers at franchising conventions.

Austin Hester serves as DMD Ventures’ Chief Operating Officer and is a 20-year multi-unit hospitality industry veteran with expertise in evolving operations, training systems and brand development.

“At this significant milestone for Big Chicken, we can’t help but reflect on the relationships we’ve built with our incredible franchisees like Fred, Jack and Austin. Each group understands Shaquille’s vision and we’re incredibly lucky to have them onboard for this journey with us,” said Josh Halpern, CEO of Big Chicken.

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- unit expansion (topic)
- Florida (location)
- franchise agreement (topic)
- Papa Johns (company)
- restaurant development (topic)
- Twin Peaks (company)
- Big Chicken (company)
- Shaquille O'Neal (person)
- Josh Halpern (person)
- Go Mini's (company)

---
Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20220902_shaquille_o39neal39s_big_chicken_45unit_agreement_in_florida.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/18567a48-e180-4062-9985-1edfe0b8acf1).