Papa John’s has been a NFL league sponsor since 2010, but the company’s founder and CEO, John Schnatter was quick to blame the league for its poor performance last quarter.
Since the release of its financials, the pizza chain fell $70 million with shares down an additional 11% within 24 hours.
Schnatter put the NFL at fault, citing the anthem protests as the root of the problem. In response, the pizza chain has also pulled some of its planned commercials from NFL games this season.
NFL viewership through week 7 has been down 5% from the same point as last year (this is still significantly less than the rest of broadcast television). This could have contributed to Papa John’s poor performance but it may not be the overall cause. Papa John’s stock is down 30% year to date, while a direct competitor, Domino’s has performed better than expected with the stock up 9% for the year.
Papa John’s still expects overall sales to increase by 1.5% in North America this year. The pizza chain currently has 5,000 restaurants in 45 countries and territories. For questions regarding our retail services, contact us.
