NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has signed on to become Papa John’s newest spokesman.
O’Neal is joining the pizza chain’s board of directors and inked a deal to become a brand ambassador for the company. He will also reportedly be investing in nine of the chain’s stores in Atlanta.
The company said in a regulatory filing that it will be paying the hall-of-famer $8.25 million over three years as part of the deal.
According to CNBC, O’Neal will be the company board’s first African American director.
{mosads}”Shaquille has an excellent entrepreneurial background, including as a restaurant franchise owner, and is a natural creative marketer,” said Jeff Smith, the chairman of Papa John’s board of directors, according to the news agency.
The report comes as the company is suffering a decline in sales following controversies involving its founder and former CEO John Schnatter.
The pizza chain began to see a slowdown in sales in October 2017, which Schnatter later caught heat for blaming on the NFL’s handling of athletes who knelt in protest during the national anthem. He stepped down from his post as CEO two months after the controversial remarks.
It was also revealed last summer that Schnatter used a racial slur during a conference call.