Morgan Stanley named tennis player Leylah Fernandez a brand ambassador in a multiyear deal. She will support the financial services giant’s giving back initiatives, with a particular focus on efforts to expand access to the game of tennis among underrepresented communities and diverse youth. Fernandez is coming off her second WTA Tour title at the '22 Monterrey Open, and she was recently named '21 Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year. Her other endorsements include Babolat (equipment), Lululemon (apparel), Claro (telecom) and USANA Health Services. See her full profile at SBJ Atlas.

For commercial opportunities, Fernandez is repped by GSE Worldwide VP/Talent Marketing Marie Halliday. On the brand side, Morgan Stanley CMO Alice Milligan and Head of Global Sports & Entertainment Sandra Richards were the key players in negotiations.

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NFL Jets Owner Woody Johnson is "readying a bid" for EPL club Chelsea, according to sources. The sources said that Johnson already has "spoken to Raine Group, which is organizing the bid process ... and he now is vying to become the latest NFL owner to buy into the Premier League." There are "natural synergies with both organizations as the Jets were just awarded marketing rights to the NFL's U.K. International Home Marketing Areas program." Johnson is "considered to be very knowledgeable" of Chelsea and the EPL, having lived in London, where he served as the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. While there, Johnson is "said to have become a fan of the organization and its supporters, and he is aware of the important role the Premier League plays throughout the United Kingdom" (ESPN.com, 3/7).

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The BNP Paribas Open is welcoming three new tournament partners as the event gets underway today at Indian Wells Tennis Garden: real estate startup Pacaso, women’s health brand Hologic and carmaker BMW. Hologic will build on its growing presence in the tennis industry (after landing a title sponsor deal with the WTA) by becoming an official women’s health partner of the BNP Paribas Open. Hologic's deal is at the Premier partner level. BMW becomes the official luxury car of the BNP Paribas Open, with vehicles on display throughout Indian Wells Tennis Garden during the tourney. Pacaso will have an on-site activation booth, offering info on luxury homes available in its marketplace (BNP Paribas Open).

Tennis Channel and Samsung’s free streaming service, Samsung TV Plus, are launching a new channel in the U.S. The channel, T2, is Tennis Channel’s first free ad-supported TV (FAST) offering in the U.S. T2, a youth-oriented channel, will include matches from the men’s and women’s ATP and WTA, as well as select matches from the French Open and ITF events. Other programming includes original short-form features and documentaries exclusive to T2 (SBJ). T2 is "carried by Samsung TV Plus on an ad-revenue share basis." To date, Samsung has "not paid any license fees to content providers" (VARIETY.com, 3/7).

NBC Sports and the PGA Tour unveiled a new logo and brand mark representing "Golf Channel: Home of the PGA Tour," incorporating the established Golf Channel logo with the iconic PGA Tour “swingman.” The new mark officially debuts across this week’s live coverage of The Players. For tournament coverage outside of the PGA Tour and developmental DP World Tour, the most recent iteration of the Golf Channel logo will continue to be utilized. NBC Sports soon will unveil a new programming mark for its LPGA coverage, rolling it out around the March 24-27 JTBC Classic (NBC Sports).

Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain is set to open its first East Coast flagship store in N.Y. on 5th Ave. The opening, part of PSG's global merchandising partnership with Fanatics, will see retailer Lids brought in to operate the store. PSG opened its first U.S. store, in collaboration with Fanatics and Lids, a year ago in L.A. The N.Y. location will be the club’s largest store outside of France and will add to a global retail network that includes stores in Japan, South Korea and Qatar. To celebrate the launch, PSG and N.Y.-based creative studio Fly Nowhere will develop special projects and collaborate on N.Y.-specific merchandise. A grand opening event is scheduled for March 18 (PSG).

The Hawks, in collaboration with Atlanta-based GigLabs, have entered the NFT space, rolling out the “Harry the Hawk” collection. As part of the launch, 40 unique hand-drawn images of the mascot will be up for auction, which will run next week from March 14-17. The collection features four different NFT types. Certain NFTs will unlock physical items or experiences, like a $500 gift card to the Hawks Shop at State Farm Arena or a signed jersey. Fans interested in purchasing can do so without owning cryptocurrency, but they will be required to create an account with Dapper Wallet and transfer the required funds over to their Dapper Balance. Read more and submit a bid here.

In other basketball NFT news, Candy Digital's inaugural “Candy Sweet Futures Basketball”collection is now available for purchase until Thursday at 7:00pm ET. Today's drop features Memphis C Jalen Duren, Notre Dame G Blake Wesleyand Nebraska G Bryce McGowens. More player products will be rolled out next week (SBJ).

The NWSL reached a new multiyear sponsorship deal with Delta Air Lines, marking the league’s first-ever airline and travel sponsor. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. As part of the deal, Delta will work with the NWSL to support players through both diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, along with women’s empowerment efforts. NWSL Chief Revenue Officer Mitch Poll led talks for the league. Sports and entertainment marketing agency Octagon advised Delta on the deal.

The sponsorship comes amid a search for a new permanent NWSL commissioner. The league is working with search firm James & Co. on the executive placement, according to sources. Marla Messing has served as interim Commissioner since October '21.

March 7, 1982: The NCAA Tournament Selection, also known as Selection Sunday, is televised live for the first time on CBS after the network won the NCAA's rights over a bid from NBC. Through format changes over the course of 40 years, the show has become a cultural phenomenon for reality television as it serves as an introduction to March Madness. This year’s show is scheduled for March 13 on CBS.

Also happening this week:

• March 8, 1971: Boxer Joe Frazier ends Muhammad Ali's 31-fight winning streak by unanimous points decision at MSG in what is know as the “Fight of the Century.”

• March 9, 1979: Former MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn orders baseball to give equal access to female reporters after Melissa Ludtke’s successful lawsuit against MLB. Happy Women’s History Month!

• March 11, 2020: The NBA suspends its ‘19-20 season until further notice after its first reported positive COVID-19 test, the first major move made by an American sports league during the pandemic.

IMSA team Pfaff Motorsports landed a sponsorship deal with emerging online car retailer Driveway. Financial terms were undisclosed, but Driveway will get branding on the team’s flannel-patterned No. 9 Porsche that competes in IMSA’s WeatherTech Sportscar Championship series, along with hospitality assets at races this season (Adam Stern, SBJ).

The NFL suspended Falcons WR Calvin Ridley for the entire '22 season for betting on NFL games in the '21 season while he was away from the team for a non-football related illness (NFL).

The Mavericks named TIAA the team's official retirement sponsor as part of a multiyear deal. TIAA also will be a charter partner of Mavs Take Action local advocacy effort (Mavs).

NYCFC and the Montefiore Health System reached a partnership making Montefiore the Official Hospital of the club. Montefiore’s logo will appear on NYCFC’s First Team training shirts (NYCFC).

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6,636 -- Record crowd at Clemson's Doug Kingsmore Stadium for a Sunday baseball game against South Carolina, topping the previous record of 6,524 six years ago against the same in-state rival. The three-day attendance this weekend was 23,948, which Clemson AD Graham Neff tweeted "speaks to the magnitude and quality of this #rivalry" (TWITTER.com, 3/6).