David Beckham (document en anglais)

Beckham will soon be seen in U.S. commercials for adidas, Walt Disney's (Charts, Fortune 500) sports network ESPN and cell phone maker Motorola. He'll likely be on the cover of major U.S. magazines and papers, as well as leading sports reports and other television news coverage.

David Beckham is already having an economic impact on U.S professional socer before his first game here, as he joins the Los Angeles Galaxy Of Major League Soccer.

For those soccer fans who have been patiently waiting for Americans to warm up to the world's favorite sport, this would seem to be their moment. While Americans have had only brief flirtations with soccer in the past, they've had a long-time meaningful love affair with celebrities and media superstars.

And Beckham clearly qualifies as that, even among the 90 percent of fans here who can't tell you the name of a single U.S.-born male soccer player.

The polling of Americans done by talent marketing agency Davie Brown Entertainment found that 51.9 percent of Americans know who Beckham is.

Landon Donovan, who will be Beckham's teammate on the Galaxy, is known by only 9.1 percent of Americans, even though he's been in the league six years and has played for the American team in two World Cups.

Beckham is already one of the top athletes in terms of endorsements, with the Times of London estimating his deals are worth £20.5 million a year, or $41.3 million. And he is cashing in with the Galaxy as well. His contract, which includes a share of ticket and merchandize sales, could net him $250 million in five years. To put that in perspective, that's about the same pay the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez is getting over ten years.

Still, Beckham could wind up being a bargain for the Galaxy. His base salary of $5.5 million for this year, has already been covered by increased revenue for the Galaxy.

Beckham's first game, an exhibition match on July 21 against British team Chelsea, has already sold out the Home Depot Center, a soccer-only stadium that seats 27,000.

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