‘PAPA’ COMES UP $HORT

Pizza biz blames NFL

Papa John’s isn’t making much dough these days — and it’s blaming the NFL. The head of the pizza chain said Wednesday the ongoing controversy over national-anthem protests has sparked a downturn in pizza sales amid lower NFL television ratings. “The NFL has hurt us,” Papa John founder and CEO John Schnatter said on an earnings conference phone call with Wall Street analysts. “We are disappointed the NFL and its leadership did not resolve this.” The national-anthem protests and reactions grew in intensity when President Trump on Sept. 22 said team owners should fire any “son of a bitch” player who won’t stand for the anthem. Schnatter blamed the owners for not quelling the controversy sooner.ner. “Good orr bad, leadership starts at thehe top — andd this is an example of poor leader-ship,” he said.

Schnatter, who often appears in his chain’s TV ads, said he’s “disappointed the NFL and its leadership did not resolve this.”

Papa John’s, marketed as the NFL’s “official” pizza chain, pulled much of its advertising amid the controversy — and the NFL has promised to give the chain future TV advertising slots as compensation.

However, some industry experts say the league’s meager TV ratings may not be solely to blame for the company’s fiscal dive, and cited an upturn in the stock price of competitor Domino’s Pizza, which is dominating the field.

“Papa John’s sales have been weaker for some time, softening long before this Trump and NFL issue,” said restaurant consultant John Gordon of Pacific Management Group.

Domino’s sales have surpassed Papa John’s for the past 13 quarters.

Other NFL TV sponsors were more diplomatic.

Verizon spokesman Jim Gerace told ESPN that talks about NFL sponsorship would be conducted internally.nally. “We are not going to critique c their performance pe in public, just as I would not expect them t to critique ours,” o he said. j taco pino@ny post. comj ta