In the weeks since the shooting two major sports-related events happened in Vegas. And more are on their way.

In the 2017 Internet Trends Report, Mary Meeker reported a 40% growth in global eSports viewership year over year. The gaming world has also grown from 100 million to 2.6 billion users since 1995, and Meeker predicts that number will continue to rapidly rise.

Call me a traditionalist but, though video has become integral to the modern customer experience, I still value the power of content in written form. Digital video content alone can relay a powerful message. But in my view, video should coexist with written content to truly drive that message home.

The NBA is shaking up its sports landscape this season with jerseys that will for the first time prominently feature the Nike swoosh (reflecting the launch of the company's eight-year, $1 billion deal with the league) and an ad patch. M

It's been discussed for years within the four major U.S. sports and now, it's a reality - the sacred ground has been broken. The National Basketball Association has become the first league to agree to place brand logos on player jerseys. Beginning in the 2017-18 season, NBA teams will be able to display a 2.5-inch square patch on jerseys. The Philadelphia 76ers were quick to capitalize on this opportunity and partner with StubHub, and to date, nearly half the NBA teams, including the defending champion Golden State Warriors have signed jersey sponsors.

When you go to a game or a show, you're bound to see a lot of phones out for ticket scanners. While some sports and entertainment fans have hung on to the idea of the ticket stub as a memento, most have embraced digitally delivered tickets for several years now. Of course, digitally delivered in many cases still meant that you could print out those tickets, but teams and venues are now making mobile tickets truly mobile.

For many brands, it's planning season. Couple that with the push by some to utilize opportunistic funds in the fourth quarter, and properties, brands and agencies are kicking into high gear to roll out their latest sports marketing programs. Since I first got into the business, there's been a growing willingness and recognition of the necessity to measure return on investment in sports marketing.

Clearly, the popularity of football, both at the collegiate and professional levels, has skyrocketed over the last decade, with 85% and 67% of sports fans claiming to closely follow each, respectively; tops among all sports.s But underlying the fascination that remains are a number of intriguing conundrums.

If you plan to make an impact in the sport of your chosen profession among fans, players, media and marketers, it certainty helps to be known as the first woman to beat both Serena and Venus Williams in Grand Slam tournaments.

When Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics' GM, approached the 2002 MLB draft, he threw out the old statistics teams used to gauge players. Avoiding subjective metrics like stolen bases and fielding percentage helped the A's fill out their roster with undervalued players, and brought them to playoffs in 2002 and 2003. He saw through the noise and knew prospects inside and out by taking a cold, hard look at the data.