The survey, carried out by Advertising Age and Knowledge Networks, asked consumers how well they recognised sports superstars who endorse a huge range of products from sportswear to soft drinks.
The 10 sports stars rated in the survey were taken from the Burns Sports & Celebrities ranking of top endorsers, which includes Anna Kournikova, cyclist Lance Armstrong, and tennis players Venus and Serena Williams.
Michael Jordan was found to be the biggest sports endorser, as 10% of those questioned said they would be much more likely to buy a product he endorsed. Jordan's endorsements have included McDonald's, Nike and soft drink Gatorade.
Tiger Woods, who is the number one sports endorser in terms of popularity with advertisers and income earned annually, followed Jordan with 5% of respondents saying they would be much more likely to buy a product the golf star put his name to.
Woods earned $70m (拢41.26m) last year from appearances and endorsements. Nike, American Express, Accenture, Roles, Tag Heuer, and Titleist are among the companies he has endorsed during his career.
The least-recognised sportsman in the survey was basketball player LeBron James, of whom 34% of people said they did not know, despite his $100m of endorsement deals for advertisers including Nike, Powerade and Sprite.
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk also scored low in the recognition stakes, with 29% of respondents to the survey saying they did not know who he was.
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