Allegedly Govt to give 40 million dollars to help defend it, should the NZ team win it. I wonder if that is 40 million that could have been spent on health care?
But it's no different than supporting the RWC or tax breaks for LOTR etc. There is an expected return on the investment by lots of money coming in from overseas (visitors, film companies etc).
I'd trust the central govt to make a more informed decision than say, Auckland Council (e.g. an LA Galaxy exhibition match that will be a winner because Wgtn did a few years back).