Papa John’s Hits Super Bowl as Official Pizza Sponsor

Number three pizza seller Papa John’s International has locked down sponsorship rights to the 44th Super Bowl football championship—a day when pizza is likely to get more attention from viewers than any other on the calendar.

The Louisville KY-based restaurant chain announced Tuesday that it has signed a deal to be the Official Pizza sponsor of both the National Football League and of Super Bowl XLIV. Financial terms of the sponsorships–Papa John’s first with either the NFL or the Super Bowl– were not disclosed.

The deals extend works that Papa John’s has done with nine NFL franchises over the last few years, chief marketing officer Andrew Varga was quoted as telling the Associated Press. The partnership will give the chain the right to use NFL and Super Bowl XLIV logos and trademarks in ads and collateral materials through March 2010.

While Papa John’s will not buy a 30-second TV spot during the big game on Feb. 7, Varga said, the company will have a visible presence during the broadcast.

Prior to announcing the sponsorship deals, Papa John’s had begun underwriting a campaign and Web site to get January declared “National Football Month”. The site serves as the sign-up site for its “Be in the House with Papa at the Super Bowl” sweepstakes. The title comes from the tagline for the TV spots Papa John’s has been airing recently, showing founder Papa John Schnatter personally delivering pies in his ’71 Camaro.

Launched on Dec. 28, 2009 and running through Jan. 24, the sweepstakes lets visitors sign up to win an expense-paid trip to Super Bowl XLIV and free Papa John’s pizza for a year. Entrants will also be added to an electronic petition to have January, “the time of year when football games matter most,” an official holiday on the 2011 calendar.

Visitors to the site can also learn more about the NFL’s “All Pro Dad” community effort to encourage fathers and children to bond around football. They’ll also learn that from now through game day, online orders of a large specialty pizza and breadsticks from the All pro Dad menu will kick a $1 contribution from Papa John’s to the charity.

While Papa John’s had plans to roll out a limited-time “Super XL IV” pizza by the time of Tuesday’s sponsorship announcements, that association was merely “serendipitous,” Varga said.

According to stats on the NationalFootballMonth.com Web site, nine out of 10 viewers plan to eat while they watch the Super Bowl broadcast, and half of those expect to consume pizza. Papa john’s has estimated that it will sell more than 750,000 pizzas from its 2,700 U.S. outlets on that day.

Rival pizza maker Pizza Hut will run ads during the pregame portion of the Super Bowl broadcast—including one right before the kick-off.