A roundup of items recently posted on the FSB News page.

– Inc. Magazine wonders aloud about the impact of the name change on the company going from Fantasy Sports Ventures to Big Lead Sports. BlogsWithBalls.com points to the whole thing as a prime example of bloggers’ increasing impact and a lesson to those “bloggers” that it’s possible for them to steer more than just the direction of their content.

– This list of the 10 most-visited U.S. sports websites in September includes three fantasy-games outlets. There’s no way for us to know the impact of fantasy on traffic to other sites, but four others on the list fall within the same domains as included fantasy sites. Beyond that, I know fantasy football sends me to NFL.com (an eighth listed site) for a large portion of every day.

– MLB.com provides a video look at the recently completed First Pitch Arizona event, hosted by Ron Shandler’s BaseballHQ.com.

– Former Milwaukee Brewers teammates Ben Sheets and Geoff Jenkins have reportedly teamed up on a WCOFF platinum-league team this season.

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About four months ago, Fantasy Sports Ventures made big Internet news by acquiring high-traffic sports and entertainment blog TheBigLead.com. Now, the company has decided to relaunch as Big Lead Sports.

The change is part of a strategy to extend the reach beyond the fantasy industry to sports content and consumers in general.

“We had been considering a re-branding for some time, given the broadening of our content to include fantasy and non-fantasy coverage,” executive VP and chief affiliate officer Clay Walker told FSB.com. “We made the final decision regarding the branding to Big Lead Sports after we acquired TBL in June.”

In the company’s media release to announce the change, CEO Chris Russo said that FSV has exceeded its own expectations in terms of exposure and traffic in the four years since it launched with a focus on the fantasy community.

“When we launched Fantasy Sports Ventures in 2006, we never expected to become a top 5 sports property,” Russo said in the release. “Given the growth and evolution of our business, the re-branding will help us communicate our distinctive products and leadership position to the marketplace.”

The new company name and logo can be found at the top of TheBigLead.com, though FSV’s main corporate site continues to carry the original name and look. Walker said that a new Web toolbar will soon replace the FantasyPlayers.com version that can still be found on owned and affiliated sites such as KFFL.com.

All this week, CNBC sports business maven Darren Rovell is focusing a series of reports on the emerging fantasy sports industry.

Although the first few videos aren’t likely to present much new information to anyone who has been tracking this industry closely, it is still interesting at least to get the more mainstream business perspective of fantasy sports. The quick take: We still have some work to do to be broadly accepted as a serious business segment.

TV talking heads will often provide less-than-ideal examples, but if you watch the video below beyond the soundbyte from FSTA president Paul Charchian, you’ll hear Power Lunch co-host Tyler Mathisen say, “Shakegian? Was that his name? … They have a trade association now?”

Yup, “they” have a trade association now … and have for more than 10 years, actually.

Video No. 2 repeats some of the industry dollar figures laid out the first time around, but it also presents some interesting information. For one thing, 20 percent of fantasy content sites reportedly follow subscription models at this point (though I’m not sure if that number includes those with free and pay levels).

Perhaps more interestingly (depending on your priorities), Hooters says it expects to host more than 25,000 fantasy football drafts this year. According to the company’s website — which I swear I only visited for work purposes — the chain has 455 restaurants in 44 states, which averages out to nearly 55 drafts per location. With that kind of projection (no matter how truthful it might be), it’s no wonder Hooters offers a dedicated URL for draft-party reservations, as well as a free draft kit (with draftboard, cheat sheets, etc.) and a fantasy-centric game-piece gimmick that includes a Super Bowl trip.

Hooters is merely another example of sports-bar type settings realizing the power of the fantasy sports consumer and pursuing us players. Even if Tyler Mathisen doesn’t get it, those paying a bit more attention do.

We’ll have more as we see further Rovell fantasy videos (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Here’s the aforementioned second one …

At this point, everyone reading this post is probably aware that Fantasy Sports Ventures has acquired the sports and entertainment blog TheBigLead.com for a sum in the “low seven figures.” According to Clay Walker, though, we should expect to see more over the next year and a half.

“We have established a very aggressive growth plan for FSV over the next 18 months as we strive to become the No. 1 digital sports property in the U.S.,” the executive VP and chief affiliate officer told FSB.com. “We will be involved in many interesting initiatives to drive greater audiences and revenues.”

The acquisition, of course, follows the purchases of other noteworthy online properties, including fantasy sites Baseball HQ, The Huddle and KFFL.

FSV isn’t giving details on the purchase price beyond the aforementioned ballpark. Previous reports, however, attached the same “low seven figures” label to deals with Baseball HQ and Hoopshype.com, so it seems safe to assume all three acquisitions live in the same neighborhood.

The Big Lead brings an audience that has climbed to more the 200,000 unique visitors a month and will continue to be run by Jason McIntyre, the creator with fairly extensive experience in major sports and entertainment media.

TBL became an affiliate of FSV and joined its Fantasy Players Network two years ago. Walker says acquisition talks began about two months ago and finally closed on Tuesday. In the press release, FSV CEO Chris Russo praised what McIntyre has built.

“Jason McIntyre has created one of the most compelling sports news and pop culture sites on the web, and we are very excited to work with him and his team,” Russo said.

At the same time, both sides acknowledge the potential that lies in FSV’s larger pool of resources (re: money and the network).

“We’re excited about expanding the relationship with The Big Lead because we believe that the site will benefit from additional content resources that we can provide,” Walker said Wednesday.

“I look forward to working with FSV to take The Big Lead to a new level.” McIntyre echoed in the release. “With the added resources of FSV, we will bring new elements and features to the site while preserving The Big Lead’s independent spirit.”

Fantasy Sports Ventures now counts more than 600 sites among its network of owned or affiliated properties. April comScore numbers rank it fifth among American sports outlets (15 million uniques for the month).