Any extra revenue gained from moving two Rugby World Cup quarterfinals away from quake-hit Christchurch is likely to be absorbed by the extra costs of the shift and playing some of the city's pool games in smaller South Island centres.
Christchurch had been set to host two quarterfinals and five pool matches but the damage caused by the February 22 earthquake was deemed too great, not only to the 38,000-seat AMI Stadium but to the city's hotels and infrastructure.
The quarterfinals will now be held at the 60,000-seat Eden Park stadium in Auckland, with the extra ticket sales expected to raise about $10m.
Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully said this morning the tournament had forecast deficit of $39 million.
"If there was to be, in net terms, additional revenue from the move away from Christchurch, that would reduce the overall deficit," he told Radio New Zealand.
But the initial advice was that any gains from moving the quarterfinals to Auckland would be "more than offset" by the additional costs of the shift and the smaller revenues expected from the five pool games, he said.
He said Rugby New Zealand would consult with the International Rugby Board over where the pool games would be moved to, but it was hoped they could be kept in the South Island.
Mr McCully said it was a tough decision to move the games away from Christchurch.
"While we had to make a decision that was based on the mounting number of risks and uncertainties that would have bedevilled us had we stayed in Christchurch, I think we were all very concerned that any decision to take the games was going to be another kick in the guts for some people who had already had a very big kick in the guts."
The Government was talking to Air New Zealand and other airlines to sort out cheap flights so Cantabrians with quarterfinals tickets could still attend the games at Eden Park.
"That's something we're looking at quite urgently," Mr McCully said.
"We'll do our best to make sure that if those people in Christchurch and Canterbury decided to keep the tickets they've already got to the quarterfinal games, then we can get them there without it being prohibitively expensive."
The Government yesterday pledged $4.1m to help restore AMI Stadium's turf, which unlike the stands was uninsured.
