Well I agree with your point but not the supporting argument. The thing about world cities is that they are world cities because everything can be found there,

Well I agree with your point but not the supporting argument. The thing about world cities is that they are world cities because everything can be found there, they are simply that large and diverse, and losing any one thing would not make them less important. Someplace like NYC isn't on the map because the Giants are there. Now it's also true that there are only a handful of cities that don't need to care about having a sports team (but have them anyway). Maybe the more apt example is Green Bay, a city that would otherwise be a total unknown. Mid-tier cities like Indianapolis as well. There's a number of other cities like Liverpool that are known for the Beatles and a sports team. For those cities, you can see why the mayor might think it's worthwhile to help out the local sports team. Nonetheless, it's still likely the case that it's really a waste of money.