The fallout over racist comments from the founder of Papa John’s are continuing to spill over into college football, with West Virginia becoming the latest program to take a look at their deals with the pizza company.
Per the Daily Athenaeum, Mountaineers officials confirmed that they are exploring their options with regards to Papa John’s and a split between the two parties is on the table before the season starts in Morgantown.
“We’re having conversations internally, externally and then we will come to a decision hopefully here in the very near future about what the involvement looks like for this season and moving forward,” Matt senior associate athletic director Matt Wells told the paper. “Our relationship has been with the local franchisee, not necessarily corporate, so that’s why we’re taking our time and having some very thorough discussions before we make any final decisions on what the relationship looks like this season.”
The university as a whole is also looking into their relationship with Papa John’s and likely will come to some sort of agreement about what to do with the athletic department. The Athenaeum reports Papa John’s is one of 19 corporate partners for the Mountaineers and is the only pizza company on the list.
Should WVU parts ways, they’ll be one of several schools who have put quite a bit of distance between them and Papa John’s over the past month. Louisville famously took the name off their stadium at the beginning of August and others like Oregon State have suspended their deals with the company.
The Mountaineers open the year against Tennessee with a neutral site game but return to Morgantown for their home opener against Youngstown State on September 8.