Sixers fans go nuts for free chicken nuggets. So do the players — and sometimes even the opponents.
The Sixers’ Bricken for Chicken partnership with Chick-fil-A has resulted in thousands of free nuggets over its nearly four-year run. It’s also caused a few memorable moments.
After Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant missed his first free throw, Sixers fans rose to their feet, waved their arms, and yelled as loud as they could. They knew what was at stake. Not a win or a loss, but free chicken.
With one more miss, they would get five free nuggets from Chick-fil-A thanks to the team’s Bricken for Chicken promotion, an escalating series of offers tied to opponents’ second-half free-throw shooting.
Grant, who is 6-foot-7 and a former Sixers second-round pick, threw up his second attempt. The ball circled around the rim before falling out, and Andre Drummond grabbed the rebound. Fans inside Xfinity Mobile Arena erupted.
Moments like that one, from a game last month, aren’t lost on Sixers players.
“I think it brings more life to the game. It kind of helps bring us some energy too,“ said Sixers forward Dominick Barlow. ”Shooting free throws in the first half and the second half is not the same thing, especially when you’re on the road. I think it definitely gives us an advantage.”
Bricken for Chicken is currently in its fourth season. Every time an opposing player misses two consecutive free throws in the second half, the amount of free Chick-fil-A nuggets fans can redeem increases. The first time, all fans get a five-count order of nuggets. The second time, they get eight nuggets. The third, they get 12.
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And while it’s the fans inside the arena that are the loudest about their free chicken, they aren’t the only ones who benefit. Any Sixers fan in the Philadelphia area — whether they were at the game or not — can collect their nuggets through the Chick-fil-A app (before 10:30 a.m. the next business day). Once activated, fans have three days to redeem the offer.
”We always wanted to do more with the 76ers, honestly,” said Sam Class, a longtime Chick-fil-A owner and operator in Montgomery County. “We thought we could take what the 76ers had done already with a promotion that was already really good and just multiply the effect … We got into it because we just felt like we wanted to first of all tie into the fandom of the 76ers. We felt like this is a great fan base that aligns with who our guests and our customers are.”
Before Bricken for Chicken, there was the Frosty Freezeout — a similar promotion the Sixers had with Wendy’s where fans could redeem a free Frosty after two consecutive missed free throws. The crowd was so intense that in 2019 former Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas was ejected after confronting a fan over a free Frosty.
“When I missed the first free throw and made the second, I’m running back, and the fan has both of his middle fingers up and said ‘[expletive] you’ three times,” Thomas said during a postgame interview. “So, then the timeout goes and I go into the stands to confront him and I say, ‘Don’t be disrespectful.’ That calm. ‘I’m a man before anything, and be a fan.’
“And his response was, ‘I’m sorry, I just wanted a Frosty.’”
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That intensity carried over when Bricken for Chicken arrived in 2022. During the Sixers’ home opener that season, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo missed two free throws, much to do the delight of ESPN broadcaster Stan Van Gundy and the crowd. The following month, Antetokounmpo was even more generous, missing two consecutive free throws three times in the second half and pushing the total to 12 nuggets for the first time.
Antetokounmpo finished the night 4-of-15 from the line as the Sixers avenged their home-opener loss. And while working on free throw shooting after the game, the two-time MVP got into a heated exchange with Montrezl Harrell and later an arena worker, causing a ladder to come crashing down onto the court. Less than a week later, former Sixer Ben Simmons made his return to Philly with the Brooklyn Nets and provided fans even more nuggets.
“People are willing to do a lot for free stuff,” Barlow said. “It could be a good thing or a negative thing. I think most of the time it’s positive as long as fans don’t cross the line, especially in Philly because, you know, it’s a rough place. So, like there’s going to be times that happens, and you have to keep your composure and know it’s not personal.”
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In 2024, the promotion even played a pivotal role in the Sixers’ NBA play-in tournament game win over the Miami Heat — and with the team gearing up for another playoff run, maybe there’s another memorable moment in store.
So far in the season, there have been 787,947 nuggets redeemed on the road to 1 million. If that number is met, a lucky winner will receive a round trip commercial airfare from Philadelphia to Atlanta to attend the team’s game against the Hawks during the 2026-27 season. They’ll also win two entries to the Chick-fil-A Backstage Tour at the company’s headquarters, and Chick-fil-A for a year (in the form 52 offer cards each good for a Chick-fil-A Sandwich meal).
“That was something that was a brain child of the 76ers,” Class said. “I know within the 76ers organization, they were really pushing for a million nuggets the last couple seasons. And I think on our side, we were like, yeah, let’s do it.”
Over the last two years, they’ve been close to hitting that target number. Last season, Chick-fil-A reached 959,041 nuggets given away, and during the 2023-24 season, they reached 943,983. With just three home games left, the Sixers are still 212,053 nuggets shy of their goal — but they have one last trick up their sleeve.
Saturday’s game against the Detroit Pistons (7 p.m.) will be a “Full Bricken” game, meaning if an opposing player misses two consecutive free throws at any point — not just in the second half — fans win. And with the Pistons ranking last in the NBA in free throw attempts per game, they’ll need every minute they can get.