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Research into consumer responses to event sponsorships has grown in recent years. However, the effects of consumer knowledge on sponsorship response have received little consideration. Consumers' event knowledge is examined to determine whether experts and novices differ in information processing of sponsorships and whether a sponsor's brand equity influences perceptions of sponsor–event fit. Six sponsors (three high equity/three low equity) were paired with six events. Results of hypothesis testing indicate that experts generate more total thoughts about a sponsor–event combination. Experts and novices do not differ in sponsor–event congruence for high‐brand‐equity sponsors, but event experts perceive less of a match between sponsor and event for low‐brand‐equity sponsors. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.