As with any marketing tool though, proper insights, holistic planning and implementation rigor are required to maximize the results and ensure that a sponsorship is maximized and truly lives as part of the overall plan, not in a silo. Here are 10 guidelines.

Sponsoring athletes and fan groups might be the most powerful one-two punch a brand can muster. But for those products that desire to get on the field but can't afford the Manning, fan groups prove to be a worthy play.

So what does it take to be labeled a marketing bad boy? "For some brands, the bad boy image is part of their DNA -- as long as the athlete's crime does not go beyond felonious assault," says an observer.

I grew up reading the latest issues of "The Sporting News" and "SPORT," getting lost in the minutiae of "The New York Times" sports section, and watching Warner Wolf "go to the video tape." ESPN's arrival in 1979 signaled a major shift in sports media, and the early '90s ushered in the "sports jungle" and the rise of sports talk radio. But now reporters aren't the only ones who can comment on a late-inning rally, break news about a trade or evaluate draft picks.

The careful use of social tools to continue the engagement with the fans beyond the broadcast or stadium is a built-in bonus for companies marketing around a property.

Marketers now able to access a once-exclusive marketing strategy and combine it with the speed, accountability and targeting capabilities of online advertising. Moving online -- and "going local" -- has the potential to level the endorsement playing field without sacrificing the power of brand associations.

Buyers of sports and other sponsorships must -- and can -- assess their partnerships based on actual outcomes rather than intermediate outputs. Instead of measuring the amount of time a sponsor's logo is visible, ROS measures how, if at all, the visibility impacts fan behavior.

Looking through the current fog, there will be new opportunities for marketers, and sports is poised to have a major role if marketers can adapt the way they think about television.

It is the best of times and the worst of times when it comes to using athletes in sports marketing. The economy has forced many companies to scale down their sports sponsorships, including previously big spenders in the automotive and financial categories. But this, in turn, has opened up opportunities.

Social media are all about buzz. For brands who need that, athletes have the followers to make it happen. And happen now.