Formerly known as The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the Anaheim Ducks Hockey Club joined the National Hockey League as an expansion team in 1993. Anaheim made its first playoff appearance in 1997 and reached the Stanley Cup finals in 2003 (losing to the New Jersey Devils); the team captured its first NHL championship in 2007. The Ducks franchise was originally granted to entertainment goliath Walt Disney, which named the team after its 1992 hockey film, The Mighty Ducks. Billionaire Henry Samueli, who co-founded computer chip maker Broadcom, and his wife Susan purchased the franchise from Disney in 2005.

Los Angeles' other baseball team actually resides in Anaheim, California. Angels Baseball owns and operates the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim professional baseball franchise. The team, originally owned by cowboy actor Gene Autry, joined Major League Baseball as an expansion franchise in 1960 and has boasted such Hall of Fame talent as Rod Carew and Nolan Ryan. However, Angels fans had to wait until 2002 for the team to win its first American League pennant and World Series title. Phoenix businessman Arturo Moreno, who has owned the team since 2003, was the first Hispanic to own a major sports franchise in the US.

Fans have been chirping about this team for a very long time. Arizona Cardinals Football Club owns and operates the Arizona Cardinals, the oldest surviving franchise in the National Football League. The team was organized as the Morgan Athletic Club in 1898 and joined the NFL in 1920. (It was renamed the Chicago Cardinals two years later.) After winning two league titles -- it's last in 1947 -- the Cardinals moved first to St. Louis in 1960 and then relocated to Phoenix in 1988. It became the Arizona Cardinals in 1994. The team plays host at University of Phoenix Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale. The family of Bill Bidwill has owned the franchise since 1932.

Arizona Professional Baseball owns and operates the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball franchise. The team joined Major League Baseball as a National League expansion franchise in 1998 and enjoyed early success, reaching the postseason in its second year and winning the World Series in 2001. The Diamondbacks play host at the state-of-the-art Chase Field, which features a retractable roof, air-conditioning, and a swimming pool in the outfield stands. A group led by former computer industry executive and Datatel founder Ken Kendrick has controlled the team since 2004.Between 1940 and 1990, Phoenix jumped from the 99th largest city in the nation to the 9th largest; currently 5th largest today. As such, it was frequently mentioned as a possible location for either a new or relocated MLB franchise. Baseball had a rich tradition in Arizona long before talk of bringing a big-league team even started. The state has been a frequent spring training site since 1946. With the large number of people relocating to the state from the Midwest and the Northeast, as well as from California, many teams (most notably the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers) have normally had large followings in Arizona.

Arnold Palmer Golf Management tries to keep its courses out of the rough and on par with the best in the world. The company owns or manages more than 35 courses in more than a dozen states and offers services in acquisitions, franchising, joint ventures, leasing, and new course development. Golfing legend Arnold Palmer formed a company to manage golf courses in 1984. In 2005, former ClubCorp CEO Jim Hinckley acquired the Arnold Palmer Golf Management brand through Century Golf Partners, an operating partner of Chicago-based real estate investment firm Walton Street Capital.

Arsenal Holdings owns and operates Arsenal Football Club, one of the top soccer teams in the English Premier League. Known also as The Gunners, Arsenal was founded in 1886 and boasts 13 First Division and Premier League championships (its last in 2004) and 10 FA Cup titles. Arsenal also owns the team's home ground at Emirates Stadium where it has hospitality operations and retail outlets. Most of the company's revenue comes from ticket sales and broadcasting fees. An unquoted public company, Arsenal's major shareholders include US sports entrepreneur Stan Kroenke and Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.Arsenal Holdings PLC owns Arsenal Football Club, a competitor in the English Premiership and the primary source of its revenue. Arsenal Holdings' other interests are in property development, which accounts for slightly less than 25 percent of its revenue. Arsenal Football Club generates 35 percent of its revenue from broadcasting, 27 percent from gate receipts, and the balance from sponsorship deals and merchandise sales.

If you really had two left feet, wouldn't you just keep dancing to the left? Arthur Murray International would prefer not to find out. Originally famous for its "footprints" method of dance instruction (foot outlines placed on the floor, a method it no longer uses), the company franchises about 225 studios in approximately 15 countries. Dance lessons range in skill from beginning to competition-level dancing, and students can learn a variety of steps, including swing, samba, merengue, rumba, cha-cha, mambo, tango, and waltz. Founder Arthur Murray began teaching dance in 1912; he formed the company in 1946. The company consists of approximately 275 franchised studios in eight countries including the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan, Italy, and South Africa. Former staff members who have worked their way up in the company own and operate the franchised studios. These owners typically began their careers with Arthur Murray as dance instructors, realized the opportunity of operating a studio, and reached executive level. Arthur Murray staff members were eligible to become franchisees within just a few years of beginning as teachers. Sales for Arthur Murray International during the late 1990s amounted to an estimated $50 million.

Milan may have Da Vinci's Last Supper, but local soccer fans cheer for these artists on the pitch. Milan A.C. (known to English speakers as AC Milan) is one of the more popular and successful soccer teams in Italy's Lega Nazionale Professionisti (National Professional League), claiming 17 Serie A championships (its last in 2004) and 18 other international trophies. The club, known to supporters as the Rossoneri for their red and black jerseys, was formed in 1899 by British expatriate Alfred Edwards and is controlled today by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Milan A.C. plays host at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, more commonly known as San Siro.

Aston Villa plc is the publicly listed company governing the activities of England's Aston Villa Football Club and the Villa Park stadium in the city of Birmingham. A founding member of the Football League's Premier Division, Aston Villa is also among the first football (soccer) teams to become listed on the London Stock Exchange, joining such renowned teams as Manchester United and Arsenal in a run-up to what many consider will be a new era in sports marketing, when barriers to sports team ownership, notably by media corporations, are expected to fall. As such, Aston Villa has already entered a relationship with American cable television company NTL Inc., which has been building up its shareholding position in the more than 125-year-old team. The majority of Aston Villa's revenues, which neared £36 million in 2000, come from gate receipts. Broadcasting fees provide another 20 percent of annual sales, while merchandising and royalty receipts add 14 percent of the company's revenues. Aston Villa also operates conference and convention services, and expects to open its own hotel in the future. The company is also renovating its aging stadium, built in 1924, boosting the number of seats to 51,000. Aston Villa is led by chairman and CEO Herbert Douglas Ellis, who also owns some 33 percent of the company's stock.

Athletics Investment Group makes sure Oakland baseball fans get all A's. The company owns and operates the Oakland Athletics professional ballclub, a charter franchise of the American League that formed in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics. Better known as the A's, the team moved to Kansas City in 1955 before settling in the Bay Area in 1968. The franchise plays host at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, which it shares with the Oakland Raiders football team; Oakland boasts nine World Series championships and 15 AL pennants. Los Angeles real estate developer Lewis Wolff (co-founder of Maritz, Wolff & Co.) has controlled the A's since 2005.The Athletics Investment Group owns the Oakland Athletics franchise, one of the most storied and controversial teams in major league baseball history. Located for 54 years in Philadelphia, and for 12 in Kansas City, Missouri, before moving to Oakland, California, the Athletics (A's) have won 14 divisional titles, 15 American League pennants, and nine World Series Championships. The team makes its home in Network Associates Coliseum (formerly the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum) although their future in Oakland remained uncertain. Sharing the relatively small Bay Area sports market with the National League's San Francisco Giants, the A's financial situation has long been unstable. For at least five years, The Athletics Investment Group has been searching for a buyer for the team. Still, the company realized an estimated $96 million in revenues in 2002.

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