Little Caesars is known for its “Hot ‘n’ Ready” pizzas and Pizza Portals, in which customers can order online and pick up their pizzas using a unique code.
While the NFL is going into its second week of the 2023 season, Little Caesars is in its second year of its contract as the official pizza of the NFL.
“It’s been a great partnership for us so far,” Chief Development Officer Jeremy Vitaro said. “We’ve had strong performance from a sales perspective.”
The “hot-n-ready” pizza franchise signed a five-year agreement last year to be the official pizza sponsor, replacing Pizza Hut.
“We’ve … been able to showcase the brand with a whole additional cohort of consumers—new consumers that we really may not have connected with as much previously, and the NFL has such a significant fan base,” Vitaro said.
The sponsorship has brought in new leads for franchise development, too. Ever prior to this deal, Little Caesars had a good inflow of franchise applicants. “It’s certainly helped put us on the radar, maybe even more clearly with some folks that weren’t thinking about us as much,” Vitaro said.
“We continue to evolve and learn on how to best partner with the NFL, and we are doing different things this year,” Vitaro said.
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The 5,400-plus-unit pizza chain is selling in stadiums in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Detroit, New Orleans and Philadelphia, Vitaro said. Matthew Stafford, a Superbowl winner and Los Angeles Rams quarterback, is a spokesperson for the brand.
“We’ll continue to work on new promotions and products with different teams, sponsorships, so it’s evolving, but it’s a pretty dynamic and successful one from our perspective,” Vitaro said, referring to the NFL partnership.
Jeremy Vitaro
Little Caesars leans into its NFL ties on its website, offering promotions and branded menu items. There’s it’s “Pizza! Pizza! Pregrame” promotion, where those who order an hour before or three hours after the start of NFL games—and all day on Sunday—earned a “fun perk,” plus a chance to go to the 2024 Super Bowl.
The brand advertises an “NFL 4-Quarter Calzony” meal deal, which has a combination of a pizza and calzone, plus breadsticks and soda.
The investment required to open a Little Caesars franchise ranges from $393,000 to $1.7 million. The brand has been closing stores overall in the United States the past few years, losing five in 2020, 28 in 2021 and 14 in 2022.
New York City, known for its signature style of pizza, is getting more Little Caesars stores after a franchisee signed a 10-unit development deal for the region. The chain has 38 stores in the New York metro area, which Vitaro calls “a good starting point.”
“But the potential is so much greater,” he says.
Related: Value Play, Pickup Model Attract Dunkin’ Operators to Little Caesars
Despite all the other pizza options—franchises and otherwise—in New York, Vitaro said sales are doing well. Implementing delivery in 2020 is one reason for the brand’s success not only in the area, but everywhere else, too, Vitaro said.
And now with the NFL, delivery and online ordering is almost essential to get football fans to order during or before the big game.
Little Caesars hopes to see continued success as the partnership continues.
“We’re gonna just see a lot of different activity throughout the year,” Vitaro said. “We keep evolving and learning and seeing what works best. We’re only in the second year of the five-year partnership.”