Hicks Sports Group Holdings is the holding company formed by Texas billionaire Thomas Hicks to oversee his interests in the Texas Rangers professional baseball team (which it is selling) and the Dallas Stars hockey team. The company also owns a 50% stake in Center Operating Company, a joint venture with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban that runs the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Other interests include a chain of ice-skating rinks operating under the Dr. Pepper StarCenter name, real estate developments, and Hicks Sports Marketing.

AMF Bowling Worldwide is a leading operator of bowling centers with more than 300 locations in about 35 states. Operated through subsidiary AMF Bowling Centers, the chain offers league and non-league bowling, along with video games, billiards, and other amusements. AMF's activity centers also offer food and beverage service and sell bowling gear. In addition to its chain of bowling centers, the company owns 50% of QubicaAMF Worldwide, a joint venture with Italian manufacturer Qubica that sells such bowling center equipment as refurbished pinsetters and scoring systems. AMF Bowling is controlled by investment firm Code Hennessy.

Nationwide Arena brings the world to Columbus. The facility is the $150 million home to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the professional hockey team that represents the Ohio city in the National Hockey League. It also hosts a number of concerts, dance performances, and other entertainment events such as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The arena has more than 50 suites, restaurants and snack bars, and meeting space. Insurer Nationwide owns most of the arena, which opened in 2000.

Through almost 20 years of serving up the finest ice cream, cakes, smoothies and shakes, some things have certainly changed. And frankly, some things haven’t. Ever since we opened our first store back in 1988, we’ve been serving up what we refer to as Creations™. In other words, if you want it in your ice cream – you get it. By mixing nuts, fruits and candy into our smooth and creamy ice cream on a frozen granite stone (around here, we call it “the stone”) we're actually more like ice cream artists. Rest assured, our expertise in innovating indulgence didn’t just happen by accident. Cold Stone Creamery, Inc. founders, Donald and Susan Sutherland, discovered their true calling in 1988 when, driven by their passion to serve the world's best ice cream, they opened the first Cold Stone Creamery in Tempe, Arizona. And now, more than 1,400 stores later, people have really warmed up to their cool idea.

These Celts go into battle wearing basketball shorts instead of kilts. Boston Basketball Partners owns and operates the Boston Celtics professional basketball team, a storied franchise of the National Basketball Association that has won 17 league titles (its last in 2008). Formed in 1946, the team's roster has included such Hall of Fame players as Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Bill Russell, and Bill Walton, as well as famed head coach Red Auerbach. Boston Basketball Partners, led by Wycliffe Grousbeck, has owned the team since 2002.

Drury isn't dreary, but it is for the weary. The company offers more than 100 places for travelers to rest their heads in some 20 states, mostly Missouri (about 35 locations) and Texas (some 20). Its hotel brands include Drury Inn, Drury Suites, Drury Inn & Suites, and Pear Tree Inn by Drury. The company also has three Drury Plaza Hotel locations that offer enhanced meeting space and on-site dining. The chain, established in 1973 by the Drury family, was one of the first hotels in the limited-service segment. The family runs the company and owns all the Drury hotels.

Boyne USA appreciates people who were born to ski. The company, which operates as Boyne Resorts, operates a dozen ski resorts, including Boyne Highlands and Boyne Mountain in Michigan, Big Sky Resort in Montana, and Sugarloaf in Maine. The resorts offer accommodations, hospitality services, and other amenities in addition to skiing; during warmer months most of the properties also offer golf, tennis courts, hiking trails, and other outdoor activities. In addition to ski resorts, Boyne owns some golf resorts, including the Inn at Bay Harbor in Michigan. The family-owned company was founded in 1947 by skier Everett Kircher.

CMR is a giant in the Mexican restaurant world. Focused on casual dining, CMR operates more than 100 restaurants located throughout Mexico (but primarily located in large metropolitan areas). Although it does have its share of restaurants offering authentic Mexican dishes, CMR's food and restaurant concepts transcend the taco shack cliche. The company bar and restaurant brands include Wings, Fonda Mexicana, La Desitileria, and Cocina y Pan as well as a single high end restaurant called El lago. The company also operates about 30 Chili's locations franchised from Brinker International. Founder Don Joaquin Vargas Gomez and his family control 70% of CMR.

Jazzercise shows people how to shake their booties toward fitness. A leading fitness instruction operator, the company has more than 7,800 franchised instructors across the US and in more than 30 countries offering some 32,000 weekly fitness classes that blend jazz dancing with an aerobic workout. Jazzercise generates revenue through franchise fees, as well as the sale of clothing, books, and other merchandise. The company's JM DigitalWorks unit produces Jazzercise workout tapes and provides video production services to other clients. Its Jazzertogs division offers fitness apparel and accessories. CEO Judi Sheppard Missett, a professional dancer, founded Jazzercise in 1969 and began franchising in 1980.

These birds keep Atlanta flapping about the gridiron all year round. The Atlanta Falcons Football Club is a professional football franchise that joined the National Football League in 1966. First awarded to businessman Rankin Smith, the team has made the playoffs just nine different seasons and counts only one conference championship in 1998. (Atlanta lost that year to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII.) The Georgia Dome has played host to Falcons games since 2002, the same year Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank acquired the franchise from Smith's family.

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