The NFL Has Traded Papa John's for Pizza Hut as Its New Pizza Sponsor

Less than 14 hours after Papa John's announced it had prematurely ended its sponsorship as the official pizza of the NFL, the league announced its replacement: Pizza Hut.

The agreement will offer Pizza Hut an array of exclusive marketing rights and designations that will connect the brand with the NFL and its teams, players, events, partners.

"We know many of our fans enjoy pizza while watching NFL games and we are thrilled to have Pizza Hut, an industry leader and one of America's favorite brands, as an official league sponsor," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "With a focus on family, friends and fun, Pizza Hut has the creativity we are looking for in a partner and we look forward to working together with them to make the at-home NFL experience more exciting than ever for our fans."

The agreement comes one day after officials at Papa John's announced the company and NFL had mutually agreed to part ways in their sponsorship agreement.

"Pizza Hut has a history of bringing more entertaining food and experiences to the pizza occasion and we plan to continue that through our exclusive partnership with the NFL," said Artie Starrs, President, Pizza Hut U.S. "NFL stadiums are packed every week but tens of millions of fans are also watching the game at home. We have an unmatched ability to bring those fans closer to the sport thanks to the power of our 7,200 restaurants and 150,000 football-crazed team members. The capacity for what's possible is endless and that's going to make this league partnership great fun for Pizza Hut, the NFL and everyone who loves pizza and football."