Founder and CEO of Papa John's, John Schnatter, is blaming then national anthem protests in the NFL for the company's poor pizza sales.
Papa John's lost more than $70 million in less than 24 hours after the company’s dismal third-quarter earnings report came out yesterday. Investors were not pleased with the findings on the report and sent shares down 11%. The stock is trading at a little over $60 per share now.
With this taking place, Schnatter took to blaming the protests during a conference call. According to ESPN, Schnatter had the following to say:
“The NFL has hurt us. We are disappointed the NFL and its leadership did not resolve this. The controversy is polarizing the customer, polarizing the country. Leadership starts at the top, and this is an example of poor leadership."
Schnatter went on to say that “we expect [a decline in sales] to persist unless a solution is put in place.”
Schnatter, who is a Republican, doesn't have quite the best reputation right now. Recently he made claims that Obamacare forced him to bump up pizza prices and on top of that, he was forced to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by drivers from six different states over their pay.
Source: bloomberg.com
