Hollywood could not have scripted Mariano Rivera's retirement any better.

Nothing brings passionate and casual sports fans together quite like March Madness. Seven rounds of sudden-death, win-or-go-home basketball hold plenty of allure for diehard basketball fans. Office pools, alma mater bragging rights, and small-school Cinderella stories add to the storyline to make the NCAA men's basketball tournament one of the preeminent events in American sports.

While Jay Z's bold comment may seem, to many, as run-of-the-mill, hip hop hyperbole -newsflash - for the younger generation, he's 100% right. And it's a dynamic that sports marketers have to take into account when deciding how to best align their brand with properties and athletes that amplify the message to their target audience.

As a baseball junkie, it's not a surprise that the advent and growth of the World Baseball Classic has been captivating theater for me as both a fan and sports marketer. There's something about the WBC's early March time frame that fills a real void. Football is on hiatus, and there's only so much pre-draft coverage that one can take.

Much like Chicago winters, the post-Super Bowl sports world can leave sponsoring brands cold and desperate for any ray of warmth. The indisputable fact is that when it comes to ratings, football is king. What happens to tune-ins between now and August when America's game kicks off? Brands need to develop a concise strategy around major upcoming sporting events to get the most return on their sponsorship/marketing dollars.