There are three parties involved in a simple sponsorship mechanism: the sponsor, the sponsored event or team, and the consumers (fans). However, this structure becomes more complicated in some cases where sub-sponsors exist such as in international sporting events. In these cases, would an overarching event influence sub-sponsorship such as team sponsorship? Based on this question, this study aims to investigate the influence of overarching brand on team sponsorship effect, along with consumers` attitudes toward team sponsors, team identification, and patriotism. This study was conducted in the context of the 2010 World Cup with the United States team as a target subject. A total of 455 usable surveys were collected from the students at a Division I university two weeks prior to the 2010 World Cup. The results of multiple regression showed that only identification with the US National team (ß= .54) and attitude toward the sponsoring companies (ß= .28) were significant predictors (F(4,450) = 128.43, p < .00, R2=.53), explaining 53 percent of intention to purchase sponsors` product. Interestingly, the attitude toward the World Cup and patriotism were not influencing factors on respondents` intention to purchase sponsors` products.
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