SPONSORSHIP BRIEFS

Special Olympics has supplier
JustBalls Inc., a Princeton, N.J.-based sports equipment and marketing company, signed an agreement with the Special Olympics to be the official supplier and master licensee for ball products.

Utz gets piece of Wallace
Snack-foods company Utz Quality Foods Inc. of Hanover, Pa., signed NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace to a two-year endorsement contract.

Lewis doing pizza spots
Pizza Hut is the first company to give Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis an endorsement deal since his trial in two Atlanta slayings. Commercials for Pizza Hut's Maryland franchises are airing on WJFK-AM in Baltimore and its "Ravens Radio" program. Lewis and two acquaintances were charged with murder after two men died from knife wounds suffered in a street fight after last year's Super Bowl. Lewis later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of obstructing justice.

EA's name on prep game
EA Sports agreed to a deal making it title sponsor of the former Sonny V Roundball Classic. The newly named EA Sports Roundball Classic is scheduled for April 9. The boys' high school basketball all-star game is being moved from Raleigh this year to be played at Northwestern University's Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. ESPN2 is scheduled to broadcast the event.

One gets away from tourney
The BellSouth Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament is angling for a new sponsor after its second-largest money backer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Waukegan, Ill.-based Outboard Marine Corp., which owns Evinrude and Hydra-Sports, backed out, leaving the Florida tournament short $70,000 in prize boats and engines. The event is set for July 8-14.