Major NFL Sponsor Pulling Ads After Sales Plummet Over Protests

The CEO of Papa John’s Pizza has a huge case of heartburn from the NFL’s current state of affairs, and he knows exactly who to blame.

The TV ratings are down for the league, empty seats abound, and the kneelers are ticking off customers.

Bloomberg has reported that on an earnings call this week, the pizza chain’s founder, John Schnatter, hammered NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, calling the league's ongoing controversy a “debacle”:

The NFL has hurt us by not resolving the current debacle to the players’ and owners’ satisfaction. NFL leadership has hurt Papa John’s shareholders.

[...]

Leadership starts at the top, and this is an example of poor leadership.

The business of Papa John's has tumbled in the last three months.

Papa John’s appears to have been backing away from the NFL for a few weeks due to what Schnatter called "negative consumer sentiment” regarding the national anthem protests.

Jonathan Turley reported that the company has removed NFL logos from its website. Indeed, a check of the front page of the pizza chain’s website shows no NFL logos, which is telling for a company that has been a major sponsor.

But it gets worse for the NFL. The taint of the league has caused Papa John’s to pull some of its NFL-related ads, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell.

Read the full story on IJR.com

Photo: Getty Images