In the past, we used to have regular “Five for Friday” columns that featured five interesting links for the week. I’m going to start bringing this back more often with all different types of lists. Today, in honor of Twitter’s #FF (Follow Friday) hashtag, here are five great sports business folks to follow on Twitter.

(NOTE: there are clearly WAY MORE than five great sports business folks to follow on Twitter, and since this is a recurring column, you will meet many more of them over time, so please do not be offended if you aren’t on the list).

• Brian Gainor (@BrianGainor) – The founder of PartnershipActivation.com and account supervisor at GMR Marketing, Brian is a constant source of best practices and new ideas in consumer and corporate sports marketing.
• Lou Imbriano (@LouImbriano) – Former CMO of the New England Patriots, current CEO of TrinityOne and author of Winning the Customer, Lou offers a great blend of business insights that span sports, sales, marketing and customer service.
• J.W. Cannon (@cannonjw) – Senior Project Lead for Sponsorships at UPS and co-founder of #sbchat (with Lou), J.W. is never one to shy away from an opinion and always shares excellent and entertaining sports business knowledge.
• Mike Mahoney (@mahoney) – Sponsorship Sales Executive for the Carolina Panthers, Mike is one of my earliest Twitter friends and is an active, expert participant in all sponsorship-related discussions.
• Tariq Ahmad (@tariq_ahmad) – A Ph.D candidate at Northern Colorado studying the intersection of sports and social media, Tariq has quickly become a go-to person on emerging trends in social media marketing.

On this week’s edition of Five for Friday, we’ll discuss some of the most (and possibly least) watched professional football, a unique take on Olympic sponsorships, the fan’s role in the economic model of sports, and whether or not we will see golf in Rio in 2016.

1.  Favre attracts cable’s largest audience – People were expecting this week’s Monday Night Football match-up between Favre’s current and former team to draw a large audience, and they weren’t disappointed. A whopping 21.8 million viewers tuned in, setting a record for a cable television broadcast and creating a nice windfall for ESPN in this early season episode.

2.  Against All Odds, UFL Kicks Off Tonight – On the opposite end of the spectrum, the UFL officially launched their inaugural season last night when the Las Vegas Locomotives defeated the California Redwoods. The league started up with only four teams, so there won’t be a lot of UFL football this year, but they plan to add two more teams next year. Click on the link to read a quick interview between Darren Rovell of CNBC and Frank Vuono, the COO for the UFL.

3.  Why Olympic Sponsorships Aren’t Effective – This is an excellent guest blog post on the Harvard Business Blog by Kim Skildum-Reid of PowerSponsorship.com. She covers many different points, including the strategic and legal challenges from ambush marketing efforts, the struggle to enforce exclusivity, compliance with Olympic standards, lack of flexibility, and fan engagement.

4.  “Fans as Inputs” Series – The Sports Economist has written a couple of very interesting posts recently, discussing another way of looking at fans as part of the economic equation of the sports industry. The most straight forward way to look at fans is purely as consumers, since they are the people buying the product.  However, there is no arguing that fans also have an impact on the game itself, whether its creating a better (or worse) fan experience, impacting team performance through vocal support, or maybe even influencing referee decisions. As such, they also need to be looked at as an “input” into the sports product.

5.  Golf looking like it has less of a shot of making Olympics – Back in August, the IOC voted in favor of adding rugby and golf to the list of Olympics sports. However, it now seems like golf may be held back from the 2016 Games in Rio. There is concern that Rio is not the best location to debut golf, since it is not very common in Brazil. There will be a formal presentation today in Copenhagen, featuring PGA executives and athletes, which will be followed by a formal vote.

It’s been a busy week in the sports industry, so here are a few of the most interesting stories in this week’s “Five for Friday.”

1.  NHL’s Coyote Ugly Courtroom Battle Continues - Jim Balsille still wants to own the Phoenix Coyotes and move then to Ontario, bidding $212.5 million for the franchise. The other team owners still do not want Balsille in the league. The federal bankruptcy court was supposed to make a decision on Balsille’s bid, but that decision has now been delayed. The team auction is still supposed to take place on September 10, and there are two other prospective bids, but each is well below Balsille’s offer. Will Balsille’s bid be allowed?  We have about 5-6 days to find out.

2.  Richardson’s sons exit in Panthers shocker - In a surprising announcement, both Mark and Jon Richardson, sons of Carolina Panthers team owner Jerry Richardson, announced their resignation on Tuesday. Each brother ran one side of the house (sales vs. operations) and apparently there were some differences of opinion in how to run the team, leading the elder Richardson to ask both sons to step down. Mixing business and family can be a difficult proposition, and many NFL teams are still family-run. Jerry Richardson is back to being actively involved in running the franchise, and they hired a new team president, former TCU AD Danny Morrison, the next day.

3. The NFL Reveals its Social Media Policy - After all of Chad Ochocinco’s statements about finding a way to tweet during a game, the NFL put out their official policy on social media. Basically, players, coaches and other staff will not be able to update personal media outlets starting 90 minutes before the game starts up through the end of the post-game media interviews. In addition, credentialed media members will not be allowed to use these services to provide updates or descriptions of any game in progress. It may seem like the league is being a little narrow-minded, but I’m sure the teams are happy to have this rule, keeping the players and staff as focused on the game as possible.

4.  The NHL Players Union Dismisses Its Director – Paul Kelly was dismissed from his role as NHLPA Executive Director earlier this week. This came as an unexpected move to Kelly, who has held the post for less than two years. In addition, multiple other NHLPA employees resigned this week over the decision to dismiss Kelly, including Glenn Healy, Director of Player Affairs. There are rumors that the decision was based on Kelly attempting to access private transcripts of players-only meetings, but this has not been confirmed as the reason.

5.  LSU Promotes Facilities with Cribs Segment - I love watching creative new video campaigns, so I really enjoyed this 7-minute “Cribs” video produced by LSU. It really shows off their incredible facilities, and also includes footage that features LSU partners Muscle Milk, Nike and Everlast. This well-produced video simultaneously acts as both a marketing and a recruiting tool, and by releasing it through YouTube, it has been viewed over 180,000 times in just over a two-week span.

It has been a pleasure covering this summer’s “Five for Friday” posts here at The Business of Sports but it is officially time for me to sign off. I want to thank Russell Scibetti again for the opportunity to work alongside him this summer and look forward to returning as a guest in the future. With that said, this week on “Five for Friday” our sports business stories include the first sports Twitter-blogger to be offered a seat on press row, UW’s decision to end a $425K advertising deal with MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch, and “unethical” sponsorship agreements between professional franchises and the airline industry. We also have news of the Kings’ hockey festival to take place this weekend and a Long Island insurance company’s decision to offer insurance for your fantasy football league.

1. St. John’s puts new twist on tweets – St. John’s University has officially embraced Twitter by offering Peter Robert Casey a credential and seat on press row to their men’s basketball home games this upcoming season. Casey was contacted by the school because of his impressive ability to network with those in the basketball community and also because he amassed over 50 thousand followers on Twitter in only eight months. His job with the university is simply to live-tweet the Red Storm’s home basketball games from a court side seat giving online fans and followers of @Peter_R_Casey a great inside look at each game.

2. UW ends $425k deal with MillerCoors, Anheuser-Busch – A University of Wisconsin campus committee recommended that they no longer renew their sponsorship contract with MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev in order to fight against the promotion of binge drinking. The University’s football fans will most likely hear few if any beer ads listening to the game via radio this year for the first time in a long while.

3. Are Recent Airline Deals Unethical Sponsorships?- On Monday, AirTran announced that it was the official airline of the Atlanta Falcons even though the team will not use AirTran as transportation once this upcoming year. The sponsorship agreement between the airline and the Falcons constitutes signage in the Georgia Dome for AirTran, a Falcons themed plane, and the use of Falcons players in AirTran advertisements. Should professional sports teams have to sign a charter deal with an airline before sponsorship agreements are allowed to even be considered?

4. Kings hope Hockey Fest heats up passion for the franchise- This past year the Los Angeles Kings missed the playoffs only to see their biggest rival hoist the Stanley Cup and their Staples Center co-tenant hang another NBA championship banner. A year such as that one could make it difficult to retain fans in the Los Angeles area this upcoming season which is why the Kings are  holding a three-day Hockey Fest starting today at L.A.Live and the Nokia Theatre. The event will allow fans to meet present and past Kings players and should help the franchise energize their fan base for the upcoming season.

5. Fantasy Football Insurance: Good or Bad? – The folks at CNBC SportsBiz say they weren’t surprised by this one, but I have to say I sure was. A Long Island insurance company is offering insurance for your fantasy football league. Policies cover any of the stipulated top 50 players of the league and offer you the entry price you paid into a league if an insured player on your team happens to miss more than two-thirds of the regular season with an injury. The insurance per player is roughly 1o percent of your individual entry fee into the league of your choice.

(Editor’s Note: I’d like to take a moment to thank Dino for all his hard work during the past few months. He’s been an incredible asset for the site, from his weekly “Five for Friday” posts to all his work on our different social media initiatives. I wish him the best of luck as he finishes school and continues on to what I’m sure will be the start of a great career in the sports industry. -RS)

This week on “Five for Friday” we discuss President Obama’s thoughts on how NASCAR can help American automakers, Michael Vick’s jersey back in production, and a contract extension between the NFL and NBC. We also look into the story behind Shaquille O’Neal taking a former teammates idea for a reality television show and the marketing strategy behind ESPN The Magazine’s decision to charge only four cents an issue to current subscribers.

1. Obama: NASCAR Can Help With American Automakers’ Recovery – President Obama is confident that American automakers will bounce back stronger than ever in years to come. Obama commented outside the White House on Wednesday that he feels it is extremely important for the Big 3 American car manufacturers to continue sponsorship agreements with NASCAR in order for a comeback in the industry to happen. As our president mentioned, “It’s about as good advertising as you can get.”

2. Vick jerseys back in production- When Michael Vick was reinstated by the NFL’s commissioner Roger Goodell on July 27, his jersey was eligible for production. However as Dan Sarro a spokesman for Reebok commented, a Vick jersey would only begin production if demand was high enough. Sure enough retail shops all over Philly received positive signs that the number 7 green jersey would sell and so Reebok went ahead and started production once more of a Michael Vick replica jersey.

3. NFL, NBC extend ‘Sunday Night Football’ deal to 2013 – NFL and NBC have approved a two-year contract extension to televise Sunday Night Football through the 2013 season. NBC will also retain the rights to the Thursday night season opener as well as the two wild-card Saturday match-ups.

4. Why ESPN The Magazine Is Going To Four Cents – ESPN The Magazine is offering its 2 million plus subscribers a chance at a 1 year subscription to their magazine plus ESPN.com pay site, Insider, for only $1. That equates to less than four cents an issue plus the addition of Insider for free. What ESPN is trying to do here is reel in more readers to experiment with their pay site, Insider, so that when prices do rise again hopefully they will retain more paying visitors.

5. Did Shaq steal Steve Nash’s idea for reality TV Show?- In 2008, around the time when Shaquille O’Neal was traded to the Phoenix Suns to play alongside Steve Nash, supposedly Nash was overheard by the media talking to a fellow teammate about his desire to start a reality television show in which he would challenge the best athletes of all major sports. About a year later, before Nash could get that project going, O’Neal started his own show, Shaq Vs., which was designed just like Nash’s proposed show. Now what started off as a potential lawsuit has ended up with Nash getting an executive producer credit on the show.

Over the course of this past week we have had some of the most interesting sports business stories of the year. We have seen plenty of Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles’ decision to sign the quarterback, Rick Pitino admitting to an affair outside his marriage, and the New Jersey Nets decision to give away jerseys of star NBA players who do not play for their franchise. We also caught wind about the NHL’s decision to use virtual advertising this next year and we want your prediction for how many blackouts this upcoming NFL season will bring. Here is your “Five for Friday.”

1. Admissions could hurt Rick Pitino endorsements - On Wednesday evening Rick Pitino apologized to University of Louisville fans, players, and recruits for his decision to have an extramarital affair six years ago. During Wednesday’s press conference Pitino made it clear that he plans to stay at Louisville as long as he is still wanted as a coach. Questions loom whether the university will keep him, what effect his extramarital affair will have with recruits, and how this could affect endorsement deals with not just Pitino but with the university as a whole. What do you expect will result from all of this?

2. Virtual signs to invade NHL sightlines in upcoming season - NHL teams and television networks continue to look for new opportunities to gain advertising money and have recently decided it is time to try virtual signs. These high-tech signs have been placed on blank walls or flat surfaces in other sports leagues and are unique since only viewers from home are able to see them. To be honest I did not know or even recognize that these virtual signs existed in other sports because they do such a remarkable job designing these signs and placing them to look like they are real and physically present at the stadium.

3. How Many NFL Blackouts Will We Have This Season? - It is a great question to ask. How many games will not be broadcast locally on television or on DirecTV this upcoming year due to the home team’s inability to sell out that particular game? Over the last four seasons the average has been a total of 38 games a season. Do you think this number is heading down or up this year?

(Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images)

4. Michael Vick Vows To Help End Dogfighting – This past Sunday on 60 Minutes, Michael Vick spoke out and told the world that he will now be an advocate to help stop dogfighting. He continued on to apologize once more for all that he has done wrong and admits that he was at fault for running an illegal dogfighting chain. Later this week CBS Sports’ James Brown who interviewed Vick commented that he felt Vick’s apology was sincere and that he was deserving of another chance on the field to prove so. Now keeping in mind that Vick has officially signed a short-term contract with the Philadelphia Eagles and that the NFL is giving him another chance, do you think we will ever see Vick land a solid sponsorship agreement in the future? The Eagles think Vick will be a positive face for preventing animal cruelty in the community.

5. Nets Make Stars of Opponents – The New Jersey Nets marketing department understands that basketball fans enjoy watching a single player dominate. That is why for the upcoming season the Nets will be giving fans who purchase two ten-game ticket packages five reversible jerseys that include a star player from an opposing team on one side. The reasoning is that with Richard Jefferson, Jason Kidd, and Vince Carter missing from the Nets lineup and with no other star players around in their own organization, the Nets feels they should embrace star players who will be visiting New Jersey to play their youthful team.

This week’s “Five for Friday” encompasses a lot of new. We feature the newest and possibly biggest Twitter story yet, the future end to Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and the new naming rights for the new Orlando Magic arena. We also cover the new Tennessee Volunteers  football recruiting billboards and the “party passes” that the new Dallas Cowboys stadium offers.

1. Twitter Ban Continues: ESPN Bans its Reporters From Sports-Related Social Media - Yesterday, ESPN NBA analyst Ric Bucher was the first source to notify the public that any ESPN on-air personnel can no longer use their twitter accounts as a personal means to express themselves. Now all ESPN employees must only tweet messages that serve ESPN as a business. What was Bucher’s choice of medium to deliver this message that ESPN implemented a new rigid social media policy? Twitter of course.

2. Lowe’s, speedway dispute report on nixed naming deal – Lowe’s Motor Speedway will be no more as reports have surfaced that Lowe’s no longer wants to renew the naming rights agreement with the Motor Speedway. This year will mark the final year of an 11 year long relationship between the race track and the construction parts company which had trouble reaching an agreement for an extension.

3. Amway to be new Orlando Magic arena name – same as the old – In the past the Orlando Magic’s old home court facility was referred to as Amway Arena. With the completion of  the Magic’s new $480 million arena,  Amway agreed upon a new $40 million contract that will give them the naming rights to the new building for the next ten years. The new facility, The Amway Center, is set to open in 2010.

4. Is Cowboys Standing Room A Smart Move? – The Dallas Cowboys new stadium cost 1.1 billion and has the capacity to hold 35,000 fans who won’t have a place to sit. On Monday the Cowboys released what they are calling “party passes” for sale which is a ticket into the stadium but that does not include a seat. The new stadium includes six party decks that are in the end zone areas for those fans who are willing to stand the entire game. The Cowboys organization feel these “party passes” could be one of the best deals the league has to offer.

5. “It’s Time”… to recruit in South Florida – We have discussed the University of Kentucky’s singing billboards that encourage you to tune your radio to a station that plays their fight song when you pass by and now we are taking notice of the Tennessee Volunteers new billboard that seeks out high school football talent in South Florida. The message, “It’s Time” shows the new head coach Lane Kiffin and defensive back Eric Berry and is directed at extending the Volunteers recruiting class message to a broader geographical area. The billboard has supposedly been placed in Atlanta and Memphis as well as near Fort Lauderdale.

We have a great “Five for Friday” lined up for you folks today which includes a story of Anna Rawson and her attempt to sell sex on the LPGA tour as well as the return of Michael Jordan to Gatorade. We also have news on a new Twitter for NBA players, the potential fall of David Ortiz, and more advertising tricks from the NHL and NBA.

1. Ailing Gatorade Calls in Michael Jordan – What is your move as a company who was previously successful but is now facing elimination? Well as Gatorade knows, your move is go back to those founding roots that helped your company blossom to begin with. Gatorade has been facing tough times as of recent and decided this summer that it was time to go back to the bread and butter of  their older marketing campaigns, Michael Jordan.

2. Hot on Heels of Twitter, NBA Players Make LifeCasting ‘Next Big Thing’ – If the 2008-2009 season of the NBA was a season of an all out Twitter competition, then the 2009-2010 season could bring some competition on Ustream. Usteam is a platform among many others that allows you the opportunity to live steam anything you can record. NBA players began using this medium a couple of years back but more recently it has become the next greatest technology based tool for them to digitally interact with their fans.

3. NBA, NHL soften stance on jersey ads – Starting this upcoming season the NBA will allow teams to sell ad space on their teams’ practice jerseys. Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver explained, “We are operating a diverse business all around the world. The sponsored game jersey is a well-established practice in other countries. Ultimately I think our fans will come to accept it.” John Collins, COO of the NHL, said for the right price their league will even consider ads on game jerseys.

4. Anna Rawson Can Fix the LPGA - Anna Rawson’s average tournament round is above 73 and as a professional golfer that is not very impressive. Then how is it that she is gaining national exposure for the LPGA tour you may ask? She is doing so by way of her looks and personality. Rawson has gained the media’s attention of late by first with her looks and then by voicing her opinion. She recently told ESPN that if she was the head of marketing for the LPGA that things would be very different. Each golfer would tee off to their own personal song of choice like in baseball where each home team hitter has a song played as they approach home plate. What she has to say about how to increase the sport’s fan base is surely interesting, but it may seem offensive to others. Here is a quick video clip of Rawson from a recent episode of ESPN’s E:60.

5. ‘Big Papi’ Was One of the League’s Most Marketable Players - Next to Derek Jeter, David Ortiz was one of the easiest players for MLB to market in the past. He was a slugger, he won championships, he was a clutch hitter, and he had that smile that fans want to see from a hero. To put it simply he was a complete package. Now with reports released that he tested positive for illegal performance enhancing substances in 2003, his image and the ability to easily market him could all go down the drain.

This week on “Five for Friday” we bring you two home videos from a Florida Marlins marketing campaign that are better than the LeBron James dunk tape, the new strategy behind the PGA’s FedEx Cup commercials, and a new type of breakfast for champions. We’ll also cover RadioShack’s sponsorship of Lance Armstrong and Under Armour’s newest business move. Sit tight.

1. What’s Your Reason Contest - The Florida Marlins came up with a fan participation contest called “What’s Your Reason” in which fans were encouraged to make a home video showing what their reason was for owning a rival team’s jersey. Fans were then allowed to go to the Marlins website to vote for their favorite video entries. As of right now two finalists remain. What a great marketing gig for the baseball club accompanied by two great finalist home videos.

2. PGA Tour Today Launching Latest Series of Ads Around FedEx Cup - Yesterday the PGA tour launched the second of three promotional ads for the FedEx Cup. In the new set of ads that broke on Thursday, PGA players discussed the means to winning the cup and playing well during the playoffs. In previous years, ads were scripted and used personalities outside of the sport itself to bolster the excitement of the playoffs. This year it was decided that the players themselves could best explain the reasons why fans should tune in.

3. RadioShack to sponsor Armstrong’s team- RadioShack has decided they want to be the new lead sponsor for Lance Armstrong’s new cycling team in 2010. Armstrong will compete for Team RadioShack as a cyclist, runner, and triathlete which will include racing in the Tour de France.

4. Under Armour taps former Nike, Reebok exec McCarthy to lead footwear business - Gene McCarthy will begin in August as the senior vice president of Under Armour’s shoe department. McCarthy comes to Under Armour from Timberland but has held past positions with Nike and Reebok. It seems the sportswear company is making moves to bounce back from a rut by adding experience to their staff and coming out with even more creative products as of late.

5. New Wheaties Cereal Sounds Very Familiar- Wheaties has been called “The Breakfast of Champions” for some time now but has never really been a “breakfast to help champions.” The cereal never had much nutritional value and was instead very appealing to your tastebuds. Now that has all changed as the new Wheaties cereal is designed to included the right amount of protein and carbs to fuel an athlete’s day.

(Editor’s Note: I want to include an extra link today for your reading pleaseure.  Brian Gainor of PartnershipActivation.com released his July newsletter, which features some great content on new trends and technology in sports sponsorships.  You should definitely check it out.)

With the MLB All-Star game behind us, this week’s “Five for Friday” looks into the future of the NHL and NBA. We also bring you the latest news regarding sports technology via Under Armour’s new recovery suit.

1. NHL’s Winter Classic set for Fenway Park – It has been confirmed that Fenway Park will host the Flyers and Bruins in the NHL Winter Classic on New Years Day. Details about ticket pricing have not yet been released but as in the past years, this event is sure to bring in huge sponsors. Bridgestone has already signed on as the game’s title sponsor for this year as it did last year. There are also rumors that a college hockey game and public skating will be part of this year’s event.

2. Fan Frenzy: Season-ticket sales soaring for Cleveland Cavaliers -  Over this past year the Cleveland Cavaliers have held the number one spot in a few different regular season ticket categories. LeBron James has had a lot to do with those statistics, just as he has with almost every other statistic in the basketball games he plays in. However with the recent addition of Shaquille O’Neal, the Cavaliers have seen pre-season ticket sales soar higher than ever with trends suggesting the possibility of a sell-out crowd for every game this upcoming season.

3. NBA salary cap lowered, team profits sink – More than half of the NBA’s teams lost money this past year and expectations are that ticket sales and sponsorships will decrease even more this upcoming season. As a result the NBA recently lowered the league wide team salary cap from $ 58.68 million to $57.7 million for the upcoming 2009-10 season, and the number will probably drop even lower for the 2010-11 season.

4. Under Armour’s New Recovery Suit – Recharge is the name Under Armour has given to their most brilliant product which is a full body compression suit designed for athletes to wear for 24 hours after an extremely intense workout. The suit is said to help reduce soreness and swelling while helping to recharge the athletes body for the next workout. Sounds like an excellent idea to me. Do you think this product will work for the athlete and work to help Under Armour bounce back from their current struggles?

5. NHL and NBC Announce Extension – The NHL and NBC started a revenue sharing plan in 2006 and have most recently extended this contract for the second time since they became partners. Game 7 of  this years 2009 Stanley Cup Finals was the most watched hockey game in 36 years which leads both parties to understand that they work well together. NBC’s coverage for this upcoming season will begin with the Winter Classic to be held at Fenway Park in Boston as mentioned above.