Pizza Hut Exec Talks NFL Deal: 'Couldn't Be Better'

Pizza Hut, part of the Yum! Brands, Inc. YUM family, earned the rights to be called the official pizza sponsor of the NFL and the company is already seeing benefits of the deal with the new season underway, Pizza Hut U.S. President Artie Starrs told CNBC.

Pizza Hut's partnership with the NFL couldn't have gone any better to date as evidence by a significant uptick in brand sentiment and encouraging social media activity, Starrs said as a guest on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Friday morning. The executive said he can't comment on intra-quarter sales figures, but can confirm advertisements are met with immediate responses from consumers.

Pizza Hut in February reached a multi-year agreement with the NFL after the league dropped Papa John's Int'l, Inc. PZZA, which had been its official pizza sponsor since 2010. This came three months after founder and then-CEO John Schnatter blamed falling sales on the NFL and its national anthem controversy.

Pizza And Augmented Reality?

Pizza Hut has a simple reason to include new-age technology like augmented reality with pizza. The executive said the company's top priority is to make a football fan's home the "most exciting place" to watch a game. The company created an augmented reality game called "Beanbag Blitz," which is based on the popular tailgate game Cornhole.

"You put your phone in front of one of our pizza boxes and you can play "Cornhole" with your kids on your phone," he said. "People love it. It creates more engagement, enhances the fan experience which is what our partnership is all about."

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