In the midst of NFL, NBA and NHL seasons, a lot of marketers have plenty of reasons to look forward to tennis in 2016.

No other event inspires, entertains and unites hundreds of millions of people around the globe like the Olympic Games; this athletic competition sustains us for a two-week period when 88 countries come together to display athletic prowess in the name of personal achievement, patriotism and honor.

We have read recent headlines that focus on DraftKings and FanDuel's legal troubles. The two prominent Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) companies have had to deal with the scandal about employees winning big on their sites, and they have had to face legal wrangling of whether they are actually gambling sites or promoting "games of skill."

Before there was social media, reality television or sports video games, we had "The Amazin" Bill Mazer. Mazer, was a New York area sportscaster, who passed away just a couple of years ago. Growing up, one of the highlights of my weekend was watching Mazer's Sunday night sports broadcast and his regular "Sports Fantasy" segment.

Though not all major sporting events attract global audiences, there are many that highly resonate with different consumers across the globe. Events such as the FIFA World Cup, the Olympic Games and even the ICC Cricket World Cup provide a unique opportunity to draw the attention of different cultures and audiences, giving content and subscription providers the chance to expand and grow, healthily, in emerging markets.

In 1992, if you had made a list of athletes best-suited to serve as global spokesmen for the game of basketball, you would've ended up with a list almost identical to the '92 Dream Team.