The league and the pizza company said they were mutually dissolving their national sponsorship deal, and that Papa John’s would focus instead on the smaller sponsorships it has with 22 of the league’s 32 teams.

John Schnatter, the founder of the home-delivery pizza chain and the longtime face of the company, stepped down as chief executive at the start of this year. Schnatter said on an earnings call at the beginning of November that the NFL should have stopped the protests in 2016, when they began.

“The NFL has been a long and valued partner over the years,” he said. “But we’re certainly disappointed that the NFL and its leadership did not resolve the ongoing situation to the satisfaction of all parties long ago. This should’ve been nipped in the bud a year and half ago.”

Two weeks later, the company addressed the statements, apologizing “to anyone who thought they were divisive.”

The company said Tuesday that sales in North America fell 3.9 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period last year.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

KEN BELSON © 2018 The New York Times