When asked to name the Big Five sports in the U.S., many fans list the NFL, MLB and NBA, with the NHL and NASCAR vying for the fourth and fifth spots (and MLS soccer coming up fast).

We've all participated in the annual rite of passage that is brand planning sessions for the upcoming year. You know the drill -- cross-functional agencies and brand managers sitting together in a room with one big calendar.

I'm not old enough to remember the original production, but someone should produce a 21st century adaptation of the 1950s era musical, "Damn Yankees." For those unfamiliar with the original, the basic plot line of the show, which was adapted from the novel, "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant," concerns a long-suffering Washington Senators baseball fan, who agrees to sell his soul to the devil to come back as Joe Hardy, a young phenom who will deliver an elusive title. In the original show (spoiler alert), Hardy has an ethical change of heart and negates the deal at the …

Launching a new sports channel is not for the faint at heart. With the juggernaut of ESPN, few, if any, can take a serious run at capturing market share, although expanding the market could be in the cards. Success is about time and money in the network-building business, and how quickly a new network can convert programming into audience, ad dollars and subscription revenue. This month, Fox Sports 1, formerly the Speed channel, will become a new, 24-hour sports network in approximately 90 million homes across America. Its message to sports-crazed audiences is about getting back to "fun" and not …

A new report from Forbes shows that while the top three most valuable sports franchises in the world are soccer clubs (Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona), all 32 of the NFL's teams are in the top 52, led by the Dallas Cowboys at No. 4 overall (valued at $2.1 billion).

LeBron James' endorsement marketing has received a lot of attention over the last couple of months stemming from Magic Johnson's assessment that he is underutilized commercially. However, I'd argue that there are a number of contributing factors that go beyond a surface level perspective of this marketing equation. So, let's peel the onion back and take a look at both sides.

As one who makes a living in sports marketing research, the warp speed evolution of technology has opened myriad windows into the actions and attitudes of fans and other consumer constituents of vital importance to our clients. With the proliferation of media channels, greater use of databases for behavioral tracking, and of course, the ability to access, aggregate and analyze social media conversation, we are in a golden age where information rather than conjecture can lead to better strategic decision making.

Fans are the bread and butter of sport teams, but are organizations doing what they can to keep them happy and loyal? This is the question we sought out to answer in a recent study.

I was recently on a plane during The U.S. Open, talking with a colleague about the status of the leaderboard when somebody turned to me, rather rudely, and asked me to stop talking. He then explained to me that he was recording each round and didn't want to know the status. His wife was embarrassed and apologized. It's likely that a similar situation has happened to some of you. I'll be transparent and admit that I've also tried to be that sports DVR guy, but I've found the whole concept of DVR and live sports to be futile. It's a …

Over the next few years, the ticket market as we know it will likely look nothing like the one you've grown up with, which, depending on your age, either involved waiting in line outside the ticket offices for them to open, or hitting the "refresh" button over and over again until tickets went on sale online. As often happens, a startup will strive to disrupt the market, but this time the startup doing the disrupting won't be run by 20-something Silicon Alley geniuses, or even Silicon Valley vets. In this next market turn, the startups will be professional sports teams …