It has been argued that studies in the sport sponsorship should add more to our theoretical understanding of its influence on consumer behaviors. In this study, Fiske's theory of schema-triggered affect was used to interpret consumer responses to corporate sponsorship of a sporting event. The linkage of a brand with an event, presented to consumers through a marketing communications such as sport sponsorship, can lead consumers to process the information about the linkage and compare it with existing information stored in their memory about the brand and the event. Utilizing schema theory to explain consumer responses to brand/sport event linkages suggests that sponsoring events exhibiting a good match with the brand can strengthen the development of consumer beliefs and attitudes through exposure to a brand's sport sponsorship activity. The purpose of this study was, therefore, two-fold: to examine the effects of perceived brand/sport event match-up on consumers' responses to sponsorship activities and to examine the effects of certain measurable consumer behaviors that are considered to be elements of customer-based brand equity on purchasing intention. For this study, we used quantitative research methods in two stages: the pre-test and the main test stage. 162 undergraduate students participated in the pre-test and also 452 undergraduate students were selected for the main-test from a major university in the southeastern region of the United States, by convenience sampling. The results revealed that students in the high match-up group had more positive corporate Image and Brand Attitude in relation to sponsors than students in the low match-up group (Wilk's Lamda= .98, F [2, 424]=3.33, p= .03), as well as the students in the high match-up group demonstrated an increased likelihood of correctly identifying a brand with a sponsor (X2=22.65, df=1, p< .001). Finally, multiple regression analysis indicated the effects of certain measurable consumer behaviors as significant in relation to purchasing Intention (F[3, 423] = 144.30, p< .001). Many sponsors achieve consumer-based outcomes that can be evaluated to determine sport sponsorship effectiveness in communicating with target audiences. Achievement of these objectives would imply that a sport sponsorship activity was successful in forming and strengthening a consumer's brand-knowledge structures. This study is intended, therefore, to serve as a foundation relating to the issue of sport sponsorship effectiveness as a strategic marketing tool, and to provide evidence of the efficacy of consumers' perceptions of brand/sport event match-up in shaping consumer-based brand equity.