Abstract: Based on the social network theory, the paper takes the longitudinal case study and investigates the period before technology standard development and the impact of technology sponsors’ network patterns on standard alliance and the emergence of a dominant design. The case study on the standard battle between BD and HD DVD in the compact disc industry shows that technology sponsors with higher degree centrality may attract more potential technology supporters, thereby increases the size and diversity of standard alliance. The case study also shows that the impact of technology sponsors’ network tie relationship on the size of standard alliance depends both on the network tie strength and on the different stages of standard alliance. In the early stage of standard alliance evolution, technology sponsors may attract actors with whom they have built up strong ties to join the standard alliance; In the later stage of standard alliance evolution, even there exist strong ties between technology sponsors and technology supporters, the relationship may be exposed to opportunism in “winner-takes-all” standard battles as the standard battle continues over time. The conclusions have both theoretical and practical implications to understand the emergence of dominant designs and the technology sponsors who participate standard battles.