In early December, a paltry 16,600 turned up to see LA Galaxy and its English superstar play at the Mount Smart Stadium against an Oceania XI that included Mark Bosnich.

Underwriters Auckland Regional Council (ARC) announced late Friday that they had suffered a NZ $1.79m loss on the venture. They've described it as a "disaster".

Mike Lee from the ARC said the Beckham loss would not be dumped on the ratepayers but conceded the GFC may have had something to do with the disappointing crowd.

"It was a luxury event at Christmas time when people were starting to become concerned about discretionary spending and it became a spectacular failure," he told stuff.co.nz.

A fuming Auckland Mayor John Banks has slammed the news, saying the ARC should be disbanded. "The ratepayers of Auckland will be shocked at this very bad news and instalments of worse news that logically follow this kind of incompetence," he said.

In late 2007, over 82,000 fans packed ANZ stadium in Sydney to see David Beckham and LA Galaxy play against local A-League franchise Sydney FC. An entertaining 5-3 win to the locals also featured a stunning free-kick goal from Beckham.

Played during a period of strong economic growth, the game is believed to have turned a large profit for the organisers.