Given a built-in audience of 90-100 million, most companies might feel secure in the knowledge that their message on Super Bowl Sunday would have an impact. They would be right, but that impact is not always the one they might want.

As I drove through downtown Seattle, I noticed the Seahawks banners and the "12th" man placards -- as well as the 12th man flag flying atop the Space Needle. Of course, every bar was decked out in Seahawk cheer. It reminded me what a powerful community driver sports can be -- at least offline.

I've always been a fan of the sitcom "Seinfeld." And while many of us can recount numerous poignant observations about "nothing" that emanated from the series, one of my favorites was Jerry's comment that at sporting events one is really just "rooting for a shirt."

As someone who has been involved with selling and buying sponsorships for about 20 years now, a couple of recent lawsuits involving sponsors and sports Leagues have struck me as, well, just plain nuts. In the first, Anheuser-Busch, the "Official Beer" sponsor for some 30 years, is suing Major League Baseball.