A Wellington ratepayers' group is objecting to the council stumping up some of the cost of David Beckham's visit.

The UK football superstar, who now lives in Los Angeles and plays for the LA Galaxy, is due in the New Zealand capital in December. His team will play the Wellington Phoenix which is owned by Terry Serepisos, a multi-millionaire property developer.

The city council has announced it will fund part of the match, claming it will bring in thousands of dollars in out of town revenue. However it will not reveal how much funding it is providing.

But Tom Law from the Federation of Wellington Progressive and Residents' Associations says similar ventures in the past have not provided the promised returns.

He says Tiger Woods' visit to play in the New Zealand Open at Paraparaumu in 2002 was promoted by the city council as a great money earner, but Wellingtonians saw very few benefits.

Mr Law is also unhappy about the council's lack of transparency in refusing to detail exactly how much ratepayer funding it has agreed to supply.