The “One Bite” pizza reviewer and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy threw his support behind Yum! Brands’ marketing campaign to briefly rebrand Pizza Hut, praising the pizza chain’s strategic advertising and marketing transfer as “brilliant” while pitching firm executives on directing promoting {dollars} toward Barstool Sports during soccer season.

“At first, I didn’t really get it. But I’ll say this, Stuart. We do business with Pizza Hut. And we want them to spend lots of money with Barstool. So I think it’s a brilliant move. Whoever came up with that, I like it,” Portnoy said on “Varney & Co.” Friday.

“They’re thinking smart. It’s football season. There it is, the football with the ‘Hut.’ And you know, they’re gonna spread this message. They gotta find some new media vehicles that cover football,” he continued, “and maybe do a little bit of an ad spend to let people know what’s going on so they don’t get confused.”

Dave Portnoy visits the Megyn Kelly present at SiriusXM Studios on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in New York City. Getty Images

FOX Business host Stuart Varney replied: “And Barstool Sports is ideally situated to pick up a little pizza business, right?”

“You don’t say!” Portnoy responded.

Pizza Hut undergoes a identify change for the soccer season. Pizza Hut / Instagram

On Wednesday, the chain announced that it will go by “Hut” for the next 25 weeks, coinciding with the 2026 NFL season.

“You can just call us HUT for the next 25 weeks,” Pizza Hut wrote in a social media put up asserting the non permanent rebrand.

The firm confirmed off the change at a restaurant in Plano, Texas, where a banner that includes a soccer lined the phrase “Pizza” on the restaurant’s exterior signal. Pizza Hut, which is headquartered in Plano, also modified its social media profile photos to a emblem with out the phrase “Pizza.”