Why did Papa John stop sponsoring the NFL?

The controversy between Papa John and the NFL started during football season last fall. There was a drop in Papa John's sales by 5% and the then-CEO and founder John Schattner blamed that NFL's inability to stop the national anthem protests by the players as the leading cause of this sales drop.The national anthem protests that started in 2016 after quarterback Colin Kapernick sat and kneeled during the national anthem to protest against police brutality and inequality.

According to him, these protests were spoiling Papa John's sales and it's shareholders interests. This turned into a media nightmare for the company and he was immediately removed from the post of CEO and replaced by Steve Richie on Jan 1st, 2018 . Steve said that the sales slump was because of 'negative customer sentiment' and Schattner's words hurt the sentiments of people especially when President Trump's calls to owners to fire players who protested were the news of the day. Another reason for the sales drop was the decreasing viewership and attendance of the NFL.

Anyway, the controversy spoiled relations and now they have officially split. Both organizations are claiming that it is a "mutual split." Sure, Papa John still has contract with 22 of the 32 individual teams but its no longer NFL's official pizza.