Better ingredients and better pizza were not enough for Papa Johns.
The National Football League announced that they are cutting sponsorship ties with the pizza franchise Papa Johns and agreeing to a new deal with Pizza Hut.
For the past eight years, Papa Johns was the official pizza sponsor of the NFL. You may have recognized the commercials with former quarterback Peyton Manning. Now, the new deal with Pizza hut is said to last for four years.
"We know many of our fans enjoy pizza while watching NFL games," said commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement. "and we are thrilled to have Pizza Hut, an industry leader and one of America’s favorite brands, as an official league sponsor. With a focus on family, friends and fun, Pizza Hut has the creativity we are looking for in a partner and we look forward to working together with them to make the at-home NFL experience more exciting than ever for our fans."
The sponsorship with Papa Johns became problematic when the founder of Papa Johns, John Schnatter, openly criticized the NFL for how it was handling the controversy about NFL players kneeling as protests during the national anthem. Schnatter said that the protests were jeopardizing sales for the company. He apologized for the comments, but in December had to step down as CEO after a white supremacist publication deemed Papa Johns the official pizza of the alt-right.
As part of the new sponsorship deal, Pizza Hut will get access to all 32 NFL teams official logos to use for marketing materials as well as the ability to offer game tickets and fan experiences during the full calendar year.
Are you excited for Pizza Hut to be the official NFL sponsor?