Papa John's Pizza is really struggling . . . and how can that possibly be when they have both better ingredients AND better pizza? Founder John Schnatter has the answer
.He's blaming it on COLIN KAEPERNICK and the National Anthem protests in the NFL. (???)
Papa John's has been the official pizza sponsor of the NFL since 2010, and on a third quarter earnings call yesterday, Papa John said, quote, "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 . . . this should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago."
Papa John believes the company's connection to the NFL now comes with a, quote, "negative consumer sentiment." And it's possible that he's also taking the NFL ratings decline into account.
Kaepernick hasn't commented . . . but it's probably safe to say that taking down Papa John's wasn't one of his initial goals.