Attitudes Toward Rival Teams' Naming-Rights Sponsors

The purpose of the chapter is to present an exploratory study examining the effects of rivalry on attitudes toward naming-rights sponsors in college football. Although research on the effects of partnerships with rival teams on fans' reactions and/or perceptions of the brand has been appearing for over a decade, the volume of work is still quite limited. From the research that does exist, findings tend to be fairly consistent in that negative transfer effects on sponsoring brands have been found to exist among rival fans. The current study investigated the effects of team identification and perceived strength of rivalry on sponsor image and behavioral intentions of individuals for whom the team with the naming-rights partnership is not their favorite.