The National Football League (NFL) has signed a short-term sponsorship deal with the International House of Pancakes (IHOP).

IHOP, an American restaurant chain that specialises in breakfasts, has signed a three-month promotional partnership that runs from August to October. The chain, which has 1,400 locations across the United States, took advantage of the absence of an NFL sponsor in the restaurant category to pen the deal.

IHOP is the first restaurant category NFL sponsor since KFC briefly sponsored the league during the playoffs earlier this year. Previously Burger King had sponsored the league from 2005 to 2007.

IHOP will use its NFL rights to promote two forthcoming football-themed menu items: NFL Stuffed French Toast and the QB Scramble.

Two television advertisements have already been shot by IHOP's creative agency VitroRobertson. The ads feature Larry Fitzgerald, an Arizona Cardinals receiver, and Donovan McNabb, star quarterback at the Philadelphia Eagles. Both ads feature the players taking part in amusing capers in an IHOP diner.

The NFL is IHOP's biggest sports sponsorship. The California-based chain has been a sponsor of the Harlem Globetrotters since early this year and also has sponsored the WNBA since last season.