Promoting companies and products to consumers through sports is a mainstream marketing strategy around the world. Even industries that have little connection to sports, such as the food industry, are actively sponsoring sports. Existing literature on sports sponsorship has accumulated knowledge from three main perspectives: sports events, athletes, and sports venues. However, the discussion has been in a piecemeal manner, and few examples comparing their effects exist. Therefore, this study investigated the research question, in the food industry, which type of sports sponsorship contributes most to customer loyalty: events, athletes, or venues? We applied the propensity score to verify the above based on a consumer survey of seven food brands in the American market (Budweiser, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nestlé, Pepsi, Red Bull, and Starbucks). As a result, a significant positive impact on repurchase intention for athletes, and a significant negative effect for events were observed. No significant effect of venue was detected. In conclusion, sports sponsorship is most effective in increasing repurchase intention that involves athletes. This is because famous athletes have achieved great success through their own efforts, so their opinions are more likely to be viewed as genuine. Although practitioners tend to focus on large-scale events, they should be aware that consumers tend to dislike and avoid advertising.