I think it's a tie between Nike and Adidas at the moment.
I do remember reading somewhere (but i can't seem to find it anywhere at the moment), that Adidas had outsold Nike in China, which would have made them the biggest sports franchise in the world.. But not necessarily the most recognised.

I have found stories leading up to the Olympics in Beijing,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21116990/
and
http://noml.blogspot.com/2008/08/race-in-china-nike-vs-adidas.html

But nothing about how they fared..

I would imagine Adidas are the most recognised of the two, if for no other reason then just purely because they have been around for a lot longer.
Puma and Adidas were set up by two brothers, and have been trying to gain world dominance since the last world war.

The first football boot advertised on tv was by Pelé in 1970, he stopped the match at the opening whistle, so that he could tie his Bootlace, Allowing the camera's to zoom in on his Puma Boots to a Worldwide audience. He was paid £70,000GBP.

When Jesse Owens won 4 Gold Medals at the 1936 Olympics, he was wearing Adidas Spiked shoes.. It was something Adolf Hitler got very annoyed about. Adolf Dassler (Adidas) Had convinced him to wear them, whilst both he and his brother were working together. Puma - (Run by Rudolph Dassler) Beacme rivals later, and between them were the tow main contenders.

Nike were founded in 1964, but were originally named blue ribbon sports. They didn't officially become 'Nike' until 1978. Causing confusion with their advertising worldwide. They are named after NIKE (pronounced ny-k) after Greek goddess of victory. But Preferred to be called Nik-ee, as that was the way it was recognised and pronounced inside of the U.S.
Their most famous selling shoe was worn by Basketball player Michael Jordan.
Source(s):
http://www.rediff.com/sports/2005/nov/08adi.htm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21116990/

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Currently I would go with Real Madrid because Soccer is probably the most popular sport in the world. Real Madrid is a name I have heard often and I despise the sport.

In a just world the Dallas Cowboys would be the correct answer as they are the best known team in America's most popular sport.

And a few years ago the Chicago Bulls may have been the right answer when Michael Jordan was playing. He was the most well known athlete in the world during his day.
Source(s):
http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/Home.htm

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I would say that it is between Manchester United, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, and AC Milan of Italy. This is so because soccer is such a popular sport around the world, and if you go to any place in the world, whether it be China or an African village, London, or Singapore, Australia or Brazil, they can name one of those clubs for you and probably tell you their best players.

And in the US I think it comes down to between the Yankees and the Lakers. But in the world they are not that popular, very few outside the US would have heard about the Yankees.

Now, with that being said, I think Manchester United is a probably the most recognized of the Big Four that I have mentioned because of the popularity of the English Premier League. It has the widest following around the world with over half a billion watching and following it in 2008. 202 nations have covered it, and with Manchester United being the most popular team in the premier league, they are probably the most recognized team in the world.
Source(s):
wikipedia
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={78F24B85-702C-4DC8-A5D4-2F67252C28AA}&itype=12977&pagebuildpageid=2716&bg=1

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Porn
Makes more sale then NFL and NBA combine. Also know on every corner of this planet. This is the only sport where no one is discriminated on height, weight, and race (including animals).
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Being from Cleveland, Ohio, and reading the news about the Cleveland Cavs, I would have to say the Cavs are the most internationally recognized sports franchise. Just read the below article, and you'll see why I think this:

http://www.cavs247.com/?p=805

Points quoted directly from the article above:

1. 5 Cavaliers toured abroad between the end of last season and the start of this season.
2. It is the first time the NBA has held five preseason games on three continents.
3. LeBron James visited China and London as part of his world tour to promote his new Nike shoes.
4. LeBron James moved up five spots and ranks second only to Kobe Bryant’s in sales in China.

There are millions of Cavs fans all around the world, and this is stated in the CavFanatic community.

http://www.cavfanatic.com/international_fans
Source(s):
http://www.cavs247.com/?p=805
http://www.cavfanatic.com/international_fans

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I'm an American that's fairly oblivious to the popularity of soccer so I thought it would be interesting to compare the Google results (from all languages) of some of the more popular American teams compared to the soccer teams suggested in this post.

54,500,000 for "Real Madrid"
47,900,000 for "Manchester United"
16,000,000 for "AC Milan"
15,300,000 for "New York Yankees"
11,700,000 for "FC Barcelona"
11,200,000 for "Dallas Cowboys"
7,410,000 for "Los Angeles Lakers"
4,560,000 for "Chicago Bulls"
4,090,000 for "Cleveland Cavaliers"

If the Google results are an indication of anything, I think the Real Madrid answer is correct.
Source(s):
http://www.google.com/

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First, the Harlem Globetrotters! Hopefully kids all over the world know who the globertrotters are, and kids grow up and introduce the trotters to their kids, and so on and so forth! Thats Americana at its best! And that is my final answer. I believe the New York Yankees come in a close second! New York City is the most well known city in the U.S. and perhaps the world. Couple that with the fact the Yanks have been an integral part of post season play and participants in the world series over the past decade, i believe those points speak volumes.
Source(s):
Educated guess

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I'm going to go with my New York Yankees. They're 27 time World Series champions in the long history of major league baseball and one of the most popular/hated teams in North America. The Yankees also have more championships than any other sports franchise in North America, surpassing the Montreal Canadiens and their 24 Stanley Cup championships in 1999.

The Yankees also hail from one of the largest cities in North America and the world and are internationally known for this along with producing some of the most popular names in baseball history over the years.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_york_yankees
http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/most-championships.shtml

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NY, NEW YORK YANKEES!! By a wide margin...I've been in18 foreign countries and saw NY jerseys/caps in all of them
Source(s):
me

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The most internationally recognized Sports Franchise has got to be either the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Lakers. NFL is an American sport, it doesn't expand to places like China or Japan, but Baseball and Basketball are Globally recgonized sports.
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Results 1 - 10 of about 5,820,000 for Harlem Globetrotters
Source(s):
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=harlem+glob...

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If by internationally recognized outside of the United States the answer would be Manchester United as Soccer or Futbol is the most popular sport in the world. As far as major North American Sports The New York Yankees are the most recognized baseball team although the Seattle Mariners are the most noted in Asia due to Ichiro and the large population of Asians in the pacific Northwest. For NFL football the most popular team internationally is the Dallas Cowboys. For Basketball it's the Los Angeles Lakers.
Source(s):
http://www.cooperspick.com/

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