The chicken business is being taken over by a big player. Shaquille O’Neal could tap his fingers and hiss “excellent” as Big Chicken gets ready to open more doors across the country. He’s manifesting his dream to have his happiness-inducing menu in the sports scene and in every city. This comes after the Big Diesel-fueled menu made its presence felt among sports fans in a hugely popular arena.

Big Chicken announced its future locations in development.  Fans of the Shaq-style chicken sandwich in Michigan have more options to satisfy their cravings.

Shaquille O’Neal brings Shaq Attack to the Mitten State

Michigan residents can soon sink their teeth into a Charles Barkley. Not the 11x NBA All-Star, the most popular sandwiches from the Big Chicken menu. Of course, Shaq named it after his esteemed Inside the NBA co-host. Big Chicken is making a big arrival in the Midwest with a new deal in Michigan. Together with the H&D Group Investments, Big Chicken is developing 20 new units in Michigan.

The Wolverine state occupies over 56,000 square miles of lands and Shaq is making sure his signature Shaq Attack sandwich takes over all of it.

The new franchises are planned in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Flint, Saginaw, and Mount Pleasant.

CEO Josh Halpern announced plans to open at least 300 new locations. Shaq’s home turf Texas will boast 50 new locations soon and fans of the Miami Heat Shaq can also expect to see Big Chicken arrive on South Beach.

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The Big Aristotle (which is also a sandwich on the menu) does not have vision limited to brick-and-mortar. He wants to make the nostalgia-driven meals to be ubiquitous. Aside from launching them on Carnival Cruise ships, he’s also opening more outlets in sports arenas.

Big Chicken Shaq opened a new outlet in UBS Arena, home of the NHL team, the New York Islanders, in November 2021. He commemorated the opening at the $1.5 billion-dollar stadium by adding a special dish, The Islander, for hockey fans. That’s only the tip of the Big Chicken iceberg.

Shaq’s campaign to bring smiles

Despite being a longtime franchisee in other fast food chains, Big Chicken is special to the Los Angeles Lakers legend.

The menu is inspired by his own childhood, derived from his mother’s recipes with Shaq’s specific input in R&D. Shaq and his mom’s goal is to make people smile with their food.

Halpern is keeping the Big Diesel brand intact behind Big Chicken. In order to make it a franchisee-first company, he handpicks every franchisee, rejecting more than 2000 applicants in the process.

Under his leadership, Big Chicken has also entered the Busch Stadium in St. Louis and the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Every location in Michigan too will have an experienced operator to uphold Shaquille O’Neal’s standards too. Fans can look forward to what Big Chicken is bringing to Michigan soon.

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