Purpose The academic literature debates the desirability of sponsoring alcohol products at sporting events, a discussion that increases as major sporting events approach. This study aims to examine the influence that sponsorship of an alcoholic product such as beer has on the sports spectator, and the level of efficacy with respect to congruent, alcohol, and incongruent sponsorship. Design/methodology/approach The experiment was performed on 180 subjects considering three variables 3 x 3 x 2 (congruency type vs alcohol; sport discipline; placement). The experiment consisted of exposure to sponsored sports posters. Visual attention was recorded through eye tracking and then a self-reported questionnaire. Findings Through an experiment using eye tracking the results showed that the recall variable is higher among alcohol sponsorships and incongruent sponsorship, but it cannot be concluded either that the intention to buy or the attitude toward the brand differ among the sponsorships analyzed. Practical implications Alcohol brand is perceived as an incongruous brand in the context of sports sponsorship. Congruent sponsors attract more attention and recall, but no differences in terms of intention to buy. If purchase intent and consumption does not increase, perhaps sports sponsorship by alcohol brands should be reconsidered. Originality/value This research makes at least three relevant contributions to the scientific literature. (1) It examines the response to sponsorship in the media of the sports poster. (2) It analyses the consumer's response using neurophysiological means and provides new indicators in this area and (3) It compares performance indicators such as purchase intent, recall and brand attitude for alcoholic and non-alcoholic brand sponsors. These contributions could introduce new information about sponsorship performance.