Beckham and his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates practiced in front of more than 15,000 fans at Westpac Stadium. The 35,000-seat oval is the venue for Saturday's exhibition match between the Galaxy and Wellington Phoenix.

It is also the Wellington home of the All Blacks rugby team and stands a stone's throw from the New Zealand Rugby Union national headquarters. Rugby officials could only watch in envy as Beckham demonstrated the drawing power which has made him one of international sport's most marketable commodities.

The All Blacks might draw a few thousand fans to a training session before a major match. To draw 15,000 to a soccer practice, in a country in which soccer is a minor sport, was unprecedented.

The training session crowd was made up mostly of school children, freed from their lessons for the afternoon. They screamed, cheered, did the wave and went home happy when Beckham spoke briefly and appeared on the stadium's video screen.

The full house signs were expected to go up around the stadium later in the day as the last of the tickets available for Saturday night's match are sold.

Beckham is aware his first visit to New Zealand is encroaching on rugby's territory and giving soccer a profile it hasn't previously enjoyed.

"Notoriously, [New Zealand] is big on rugby, but I hope that we can change that," Beckham said.