John Schnatter is the founder of Papa John’s Pizza. He built the national pizza chain from a converted broom closet in a Jeffersonville, Indiana tavern into one of the country’s largest pizza brands, later headquartered in Louisville.
He stepped down as CEO and eventually resigned as chairman after two controversies. He blamed an NFL anthem protest boycott for slowing sales, then was later found to have used a racial slur on a conference call.
From a Broom Closet to a Pizza Empire
John H. Schnatter was born November 23, 1961, in Jeffersonville, Indiana, just across the Ohio River from Louisville. After graduating from Ball State University with a business degree in 1983, he went to work at his father’s tavern, Mick’s Lounge.
In 1984, at 23, he sold his 1971 Camaro to buy $1,600 worth of used pizza equipment. He installed it in a converted broom closet at the back of the bar. He began selling pizzas to the tavern’s regulars, and within a year had opened his first standalone location next door.
Louisville’s Papa John
Papa John’s grew quickly through the 1990s, going public in 1993 and expanding to 500 stores within a year and 1,500 by 1997. Schnatter moved the company’s headquarters from Jeffersonville to Louisville in the late 1990s. The brand became closely tied to the city, at one point putting its name on the University of Louisville football stadium as Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Schnatter stepped down as president and CEO in 2005 but remained chairman. He returned as CEO in 2008 and steered the company through years of national expansion built around its “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.” slogan.
Controversy and Fallout
In 2018, Schnatter drew criticism after suggesting on an earnings call that NFL players’ national anthem protests were hurting Papa John’s sales. The comments themselves became a public-relations problem for the company. Later that year, Forbes reported that Schnatter had used a racial slur during a media training call. The disclosure led to his resignation as chairman of the company he founded and his removal from Papa John’s marketing. The University of Louisville also cut ties with him, renaming the football stadium simply Cardinal Stadium. Schnatter has since sued the company over its handling of the episode. He also pursued legal action against a marketing firm involved in the leaked recording, and the two sides reached a settlement in 2026. In 2026, the University of Louisville signaled it was rebuilding its relationship with him, opening the door to his re-engagement with the school.