franchise

Noun

franchise (countable and uncountable; plural franchises)

1. A right or privilege officially granted to a person, a group of people, or a company by a government.
2. An acknowledgment of a corporation's existence and ownership.
3. The authorization granted by a company to sell or distribute its goods or services in a certain area.

   McDonalds has exported its franchise.

4. A business operating under such authorization.
5. A legal exemption from jurisdiction.
6. The membership of a corporation or state; citizenship.
7. The right to vote at a public election.
8. (sports) The collection of organizations in the history of a sports team; the tradition of a sports team as an entity, extending beyond the contemporary organization.

   The Whalers' home city of Hartford was one of many for the franchise.

9. (business, marketing) The positive influence on the buying behavior of customers exerted by the reputation of a company or a brand.
   • 2000 John Philip Jones, Behind powerful brands: from strategy to campaign, page 80:

     Once a brand has established a consumer franchise and a brand image, it takes a long time for these to decay, as the image is maintained more by people's personal familiarity with and usage of the brand than by external marketing stimuli.

   • 2002 Robert G. Hagstrom, The Essential Buffett: Timeless Principles for the New Economy, page 26:

     Warren Buffett teaches us that the best business to own, the one with the best long-term prospects is a franchise - one that sells a product or service that is needed or desired, has no close substitute, and yields profits that are unregulated.

   • 2007 Jack L. Treynor, Treynor on institutional investing, page 354:

     Certain other industries have no plant. Value derives entirely from brand franchise. (Consulting firms, engineering firms, and advertising agencies do not talk about the value of their franchise. Instead, they talk about "reputation".)

10. The loose collection of fictional works pertaining to a particular universe, including literary, film, or television series from various sources.

    the Star Wars franchise

11. (obsolete) Magnanimity; generosity; liberality; frankness; nobility.

Synonyms

• (business operating under franchise): franchisee

Franchise generally means a right or privilege. It may refer to:

• Suffrage, the civil right to vote
• Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business, such as:
  • Chain store, retail outlets which share a brand and central management
  • An exclusive right, for example to sell branded merchandise
  • Media franchise, ownership of the characters and setting of a film, video game, book, etc., particularly in North American usage
• A cable franchise, a term for a government-granted monopoly
• "Franchise" (short story), a 1955 short story by Isaac Asimov
• Dem Franchize Boyz, an American hip hop group from Atlanta
• Franchise Pictures, a film production company

In sport

• Franchise, a term for a team in professional sports league organization in North America
  • Franchise player, one who plays in this system
  • Franchise tag, a free agent player, specifically in the US National Football League
• League franchise, a local or regional business franchising operation under a particular amateur sporting league in activities such as pool, darts, etc.