The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Staff Reports
Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:22 PM
Papa John's Executives Urging NFL To Address Declining Viewership, Public Backlash
The Kentucky-based pizza chain remains adamant that the NFL’s mishandling of its business challenges negatively impacted sales this year, due in large part to Papa John’s heavy investment in marketing to drive business on fall and winter NFL Sundays. While executives say Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter’s criticism of “poor leadership” among NFL officials was not meant to indicate he was taking a side in the ongoing national anthem debate, the company doubled down on its stance that change is necessary.
“Those things got mischaracterized and misconstrued, that Papa John’s has some sort of a position politically on the protests. We have no position,” Papa John’s President and COO Steve Ritchie told FOX Business on Wednesday. “Our only position is that we want the NFL to improve. … I think it’s fair to say that clearly some things need to change for the relationship to be mutually successful moving forward.”
NFL ratings are down 5.5% through the first nine weeks of the 2017 season compared to last year, according to the latest Nielsen data. The ratings decline has occurred alongside an unprecedented wave of NFL player protests during the national anthem, though it’s unclear how large of a role the public’s reaction to the protests has played in the drop.
The company cited the NFL’s struggles when it lowered its sales guidance for the rest of the fiscal year earlier this month. At the time, Schnatter told analysts on an earnings call that the league’s failure to resolve “the current debacle to the players’ and owners’ satisfaction” has “hurt Papa John’s shareholders.”
Critics ripped Papa John’s for failing to provide adequate proof that the NFL was responsible for its sales struggles. The company’s stock is down roughly 15% since its Nov. 1 results. Separately, the CEO of Yum Brands (YUM), the parent company of the rival Pizza Hut brand, said it has seen no NFL-related impact on its business.
