Johnson Controls has signed on as the "first major corporate sponsor" of the Bucks' new arena. The Milwaukee-area firm was "named the official 'smart building' partner" for the venue and the downtown arena district. Terms of the multiyear agreement were not released. The Bucks "anticipate negotiating additional major corporate sponsorships for the new arena," including an "overall naming-rights sponsor." Team President Peter Feigin said he "anticipates signing a naming-rights deal worth at least $6 million per year" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/30).

StubHub has signed a one-year agreement with the Blue Jays, becoming the club’s official fan-to-fan ticket marketplace. The Blue Jays had been more loosely included in MLBAM’s league-wide partnership with StubHub, but this team-level deal creates a fully functional integration for electronic transmission and reissuing of tickets, and linkage with club season-ticket holder accounts. StubHub will also gain a series of marketing assets including signage and hospitality areas at Rogers Centre. 

Each the men's Final Four teams are seeing licensed merchandise sales up triple digits compared to the week leading into the Sweet 16, according to data from online retailer Fanatics. Gonzaga saw the biggest increase, up 825% as the school qualified for its first Final Four appearance. South Carolina saw a 660% uptick, while Oregon was up 325% and North Carolina was up 110%. UNC sales also are up 60% since making the Final Four compared to the same period last year, when the school also made the Final Four.

In terms of sales by state, UNC leads all four schools since making it past the Elite 8, topping sales in 25 states across the U.S. Gonzaga is second with 11 states, while Oregon has nine and South Carolina has five states. Charlotte leads all markets for UNC merch sales, followed by Atlanta and Raleigh. South Carolina’s home market of Columbia is tops for that school’s gear, while Seattle leads for Gonzaga and Portland leads for Oregon.

Spalding and the NCAA today announced an extension of their partnership through August '21. The deal makes the sporting equipment brand the official supplier of backstop, backboard and goal equipment for both the men's and women's D-I basketball tournaments and includes licensing rights to utilize the NCAA logo on Spalding basketball products sold at retail. The partnership tips off with the debut of Spalding's new Renegade Portable Backstop at the men's Final Four in Phoenix (Spalding).

Topps today announced that Cubs 3B Kris Bryant will be the cover athlete for the latest version of the brand's digital trading card game, "Topps MLB BUNT 2017" (Topps). In addition, app developer Glu Mobile for the second straight year is featuring Bryant's likeness on its "MLB Tap Sports Baseball" game. The '17 edition launched today for iOS and Android devices (Glu).

Herschel Supply has scored a deal with MLB to "release a limited edition collection of backpacks" that feature all 30 MLB teams in "two silhouettes – game-ready Home and Away color renditions and logo combinations." The product "hits stores (Urban Outfitters, Barneys, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom) and online retailers today." The Heritage backpack is "retailing for $69.99 while a Packable Daypack is priced at $34.99." Herschel Supply's "main target market is the 18-to-35 year-old 'travel consumer'" (FORBES.com, 3/30).

The World Esports Association has added its first two new members since its '16 launch in Germany-based SK Gaming and Renegades, a franchise owned by Celtics F Jonas Jerebko. The Michigan-based Renegades team is the second North American outfit to join WESA, which is a collaboration of tournament organizer ESL and the now nine e-sports franchises that have agreed to collaborate on standardized scheduling, competitive regulations and revenue sharing. WESA focuses primarily on Valve’s “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” game.

Other stories from this week in '97:

• Negotiations to keep the Whalers in Hartford stall; destination remains unclear.
• Mal Hemmerling becomes second Sydney Organizing Committee CEO to resign.
• Microsoft, NBC kill proposed joint venture for standalone sports website.

The North Carolina General Assembly has "approved a compromise bill that repeals House Bill 2," which now goes to Gov. Roy Cooper "for his signature." Cooper is holding a press conference to discuss the repeal at 4:00pm ET (NEWSOBSERVER.com, 3/30).

Patriots QB Tom Brady had the top-selling NFL jersey in all 50 states in February, according to data from NFLShop.com (John Ourand, Staff Writer).

The latest edition of ESPN the Magazine, its MLB preview issue, features Dodgers SS Corey Seager under the header "The New Classic" (THE DAILY).

STX will be the "official apparel provider for the USA Field Hockey national squads" at the '20 Tokyo Games (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/30).

The Pirates have installed Eaton's Ephesus LED sports lighting and an accompanying controls system at PNC Park (Eaton).

"This is our first time to inherit a stadium. We have worked on 60 million square feet of projects in our 105 years, but we’ve never been given a stadium. We are very excited about it. We will reprogram the existing stadium to host major festivals. It will be a gem" – Cordish Cos. CEO & Chair David Cordish, on the redevelopment of Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, once the MLB Rangers complete construction on a new ballpark (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/30).

"The Jones family is very comfortable with the way things turned out" – Former MLBer Chipper Jones, on his decision not to sign with agent Scott Boras early in his career (FANRAGSPORTS.com, 3/30).

Mizzou Athletics confirms in the 2 weeks since Cuonzo Martin was hired, MU has sold about 1,000 basketball season tickets to new customers

— Ashley Zavala KRCG (@ZavalaA) March 30, 2017

I’m taking all comments, from all sides, with a grain of salt. This is messy. But the Redskins certainly aren’t coming away looking good.

— michael phillips (@michaelpRTD) March 30, 2017

This means HB2 will be repealed 1 year and 1 week after it was passed. Next will be waiting to hear responses from NBA, ACC, @NCAA etc

— Erik Spanberg (@CBJspanberg) March 30, 2017

The Warriors are a perfect 9-0 since the controversial resting of all their stars back on Saturday night, March 11...

🤔

— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) March 30, 2017

The ATP/WTA Miami Open tweeted out this video showing briefly how racket stringers perform one of the tournament's most critical behind-the-scenes functions.

Some of the most important folks at the Miami Open? The @luxilontennis stringers. Here's a quick peek at them in action. pic.twitter.com/szBInxhtW8

— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 30, 2017

108,000 – Number of signatures gathered by FS Investors, the developers proposing the $1B SoccerCity project in San Diego. That is "far more than the 71,646 required under city law" to "force the San Diego City Council to approve the project or submit it to city voters" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/30).