It's a little-known fact that some major sports teams are part-owned by public companies. While owning shares in the teams won't get you any perks, it would be sweet to say "I own a little piece of the Steelers."

Unfortunately, you can't invest in the greatest football team in the U.S., but there are other strong names you can get a stake in:

Boston Red Sox
The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) has a 17.75% stake of New England Sports Ventures, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, 80% of New England Sports Network (a regional sports TV network), and 50% of Roush Fenway Racing (a leading NASCAR team). New England Sports Ventures is also reportedly buying Liverpool Football Club, the famed English Premier League soccer club.

New York Knicks and New York Rangers
The owner of both teams as well as the eponymously named sports arena Madison Square Garden (NYSE: MSG) also owns Radio City Music Hall and the New York Liberty of the WNBA. It also owns the MSG TV Network, where you'll find broadcasts of those teams as well as the New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres, among others.

Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway
While not owning any teams, International Speedway (Nasdaq: ISCA) owns both Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, as well as 11 other major motorsports facilities. In 2009, these motorsports entertainment facilities promoted well over 100 racing events, including 47 NASCAR events, five Indy racing events, and the national hot rod drag racing event.

ESPN
Owned by Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), ESPN is the brand when it comes to sports news. Disney estimates that ESPN and ESPN2 have 99 million subscribers, while its ESPN Classic, ESPNews, and ESPNU all have at least 50 million subscribers.

Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI)
One of the largest draws for Sirius XM's 19.5 million subscribers is the company's agreements with the NFL and NASCAR that let subscribers listen to live coverage of every game and event. While both these agreements expire in 2011, sports will continue to play an important role in Sirius XM's business.

Nike
While Nike (NYSE: NKE) does not own a team, it sponsors scores of athletes and teams. For 2011, its endorsement obligations already total $675 million for the year. Rivals such as Under Armour (NYSE: UA) are slowly beginning to spend money to challenge Nike, but the $30 million that Under Armour expects to spend in the next year is far from Nike's sponsorship spending.