Pizza Hut is temporarily dropping "Pizza" from its name as the restaurant chain leans into football season, a surprise rebrand that arrives while parent company Yum! Brands moves ahead with a multibillion-dollar sale of the iconic brand.

The company said this week that it will go by "Hut" for the next 25 weeks, a stretch that coincides with the 2026 NFL season.

"You can just call us HUT for the next 25 weeks," Pizza Hut wrote in a social media post announcing the temporary rebrand.

The chain showed off the change at a restaurant in Plano, Texas, where a banner featuring a football covered the word "Pizza" on the location's exterior sign. Pizza Hut, which is headquartered in Plano, also changed its social media profile images to a logo without the word "Pizza."

The brand is no stranger to NFL marketing: Pizza Hut served as the league's official pizza sponsor from 2018 to 2022, stepping in after Papa John's ended its own league sponsorship. Temporary name changes have also become an occasional playbook in the restaurant industry — IHOP famously went by "IHOb" for a 2018 burger promotion — though Pizza Hut has framed its rebrand squarely around the football calendar.

The football-themed marketing push comes at a pivotal time for the brand, as Yum! Brands proceeds with plans to sell the iconic restaurant chain. FOX Business reported in June that Yum! was in exclusive talks with private equity firm LongRange Capital over a potential sale of Pizza Hut. At the time, no agreement had been reached, and LongRange was among several firms that had explored acquiring the chain.

Yum! later announced that LongRange agreed to acquire Pizza Hut's operations outside mainland China for approximately $1.5 billion, while Yum China Holdings — which was spun off from Yum! Brands in 2016 and already operates the chain's mainland China restaurants — agreed to purchase the mainland China operations in a separate $1.2 billion deal. The transactions value the operations at a combined $2.7 billion, with Yum! expecting approximately $2.3 billion in net proceeds — a sale that sharpens Yum!'s focus on Taco Bell and KFC.

"Under LongRange and Yum China, Pizza Hut will be well positioned for future growth with ownership that brings deep expertise in the restaurant industry," Yum! CEO Chris Turner said. "Pizza Hut was built by the passion and dedication of our team members, employees and franchisees, and we're excited for the next chapter."

The sale follows a prolonged period of pressure on Pizza Hut's U.S. business, even though the chain remains one of the largest pizza chains in the world by restaurant count. FOX Business reported in June, citing Reuters, that Pizza Hut generated about 12% of Yum!'s revenue in 2025 and had posted declining U.S. comparable sales for 10 consecutive quarters. Yum! had been evaluating strategic alternatives for Pizza Hut, including a potential sale, as the chain worked to reverse its sales slump.

LongRange emerged as a potential buyer after Apollo Global Management and Sycamore Partners were also reported to have explored bids for Pizza Hut. Earlier this month, Yum! said the sale remained on track to close in August. If the deal closes on schedule, much of the 25-week "Hut" run will unfold under LongRange's ownership, making the football-season campaign one of the brand's most visible marketing efforts under its incoming owner.

The "Hut" branding, however, is not permanent. Once the 25-week football promotion ends, Pizza Hut is expected to return to the name consumers have known since the chain was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1958.

FOX Business' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.