The Role of TV in Making the TV Football Spectators Committed to Sport Sponsors

The present paper aims tostudy the role of TV in making the TV football spectators committed to the sport sponsors. In this research, five important variables, including brand awareness, corporate image, interest in sponsors, purchase intention, and loyalty to the sponsoring organization or company and its products or services, were studied. The data-gathering instrument was a questionnaire, validity of which was confirmed by a panel of experts. Reliability of the questionnaire was established by calculating Cronbach's alpha (=α0.80). The statistical population included the TV spectators of the most popular teams in the Tenth League. 460 subjects were selected as the sample population. Using the binominal test method, the effect of sport sponsorship on the five mentioned variables among the TV spectators of the popular teams was examined. The results showed that sport sponsorship increases brand awareness, enhances the positive image of the sponsoring organization, and increases the interest in and loyalty to the sponsor. However, it has no significant effect on purchase intention. The sponsors have to note that making the spectators committed to them is a long-time process, which requires persistent support to finally achieve capital return.