Beckham poised to be Soccer’s Celebrity Endorser.

David Beckham may be newest player in Major League Soccer, but he’s already the best-known soccer star among U.S. consumers, according to the Davie Brown Index (DBI), which determines a celebrity’s ability to influence consumer behavior.

Beckham is the best-known active soccer player in the DBI, and ranks second only to former women’s star Mia Hamm among all soccer athletes in the index.

“When has an international sports-celebrity been so highly anticipated in the U.S.?” said Jeff Chown, president of Davie Brown Talent, the nation’s largest celebrity talent-buying agency, which created the DBI.

“Yao Ming was the last big-name foreign player to break into American professional sports, but he didn’t generate near the buzz and excitement that Beckham has. Pele’s arrival in New York 30 years ago was big, but this is bigger.”

Among the 350 celebrity-athletes in the DBI, Beckham ranks at No. 99, ahead of well-known American athletes such as Allen Iverson, Michael Vick, and Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. Freddy Adu, one of the league’s most popular players, is No. 284 among sports-celebrities in the DBI.

“Casual fans – consumers with little or no interest in soccer – will be drawn to ‘Brand Beckham,'” said Chown. “His celebrity takes him out of the sports page and onto the front page. That exposure alone is worth millions to sponsors.”

The question here is. Will he begin to learn Spanish to target US Hispanic Consumers?