While baseball fans sat and watched ball after ball after ball get hammered out of the ballpark on Monday during the 2011 State Farm Home Run Derby, part of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game festivities, execs at the insurance company, which has sponsored the Derby since 2007, must have been sitting back and enjoying themselves.

The broadcast from Phoenix attracted almost 7 million viewers to ESPN, according to Nielsen, giving a big boost to the State Farm Brand. The insurer received about $45 million worth of brand recognition during the game, estimates Front Row Analytics, a division of marketing, research, and naming-rights firm Front Row Marketing Services, estimates, according to TheBigLead.Continue reading...

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NBA star Kevin Garnett is teaming up with Wheaties FUEL and Boys & Girls Clubs of America to help launch the FUEL a Future campaign. For every adult who pledges to play one game of basketball with a child in their family or community, Wheaties FUEL will donate $1 per pledge to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The goal is to promote mentorship by engaging parents and other mentors to encourage kids to get active for a good cause.