The “One Bite” pizza reviewer and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy threw his support behind Yum! Brands’ campaign to temporarily rebrand Pizza Hut, praising the pizza chain’s strategic marketing move as “brilliant” while pitching company executives on directing advertising dollars toward Barstool Sports during football season.
“At first, I didn’t really get it. But I’ll say this, Stuart. We do business with Pizza Hut. And we want them to spend lots of money with Barstool. So I think it’s a brilliant move. Whoever came up with that, I like it,” Portnoy said on “Varney & Co.” Friday.
“They’re thinking smart. It’s football season. There it is, the football with the ‘Hut.’ And you know, they’re gonna spread this message. They gotta find some new media vehicles that cover football,” he continued, “and maybe do a little bit of an ad spend to let people know what’s going on so they don’t get confused.”
FOX Business host Stuart Varney replied: “And Barstool Sports is ideally situated to pick up a little pizza business, right?”
“You don’t say!” Portnoy responded.
On Wednesday, the chain announced that it will go by “Hut” for the next 25 weeks, coinciding with the 2026 NFL season.
“You can just call us HUT for the next 25 weeks,” Pizza Hut wrote in a social media post announcing the temporary rebrand.
The company showed off the change at a restaurant in Plano, Texas, where a banner featuring a football covered the word “Pizza” on the restaurant’s exterior sign. Pizza Hut, which is headquartered in Plano, also changed its social media profile images to a logo without the word “Pizza.”