Critics say the full cost of last year's Rugby World Cup has been ignored in a glowing report on its financial succcess.
They say the long-term cost of building stadiums should be considered along with the inflow of money from tourists.
A report by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment estimates the tournament had a short-term economic impact of $1.73 billion between 2006 and 2012 and sustained the equivalent of 29,990 jobs for a year.
It says the event brought 133,000 international visitors to New Zealand - twice the number that went to the 2003 World Cup in Australia.
The organisation running the tournament lost $31.3 million, but that was 20% lower than feared and was offset by the money spent on accommodation and travel.
The report says overseas tourists, 42% of them Australian, spent $390 million in this country.
But an economics lecturer at Massey University, Sam Richardson, says the overall figure is not necessarily a true measure of the benefits because the costs are unknown.
These include the interest bill on huge loans taken out to build a stadium and extra costs in maintaining it later.
Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis said the city is burdened by the "ongoing, unaffordable costs" of its stadium.
He said it made no sense to build the stadium in the first place, and in a city of 120,000 it is difficult to attract performers to play there.
The ministry's report says the stadiums are useful additions to New Zealand's infrastructure.
The 45-day tournament ended in October 2011 with the All Blacks' dramatic 8-7 victory over France at Auckland's Eden Park.
