The Phoenix roadshow rolls into Auckland tomorrow night, and midfielder Tim Brown says he hopes the team can continue to take their talents around the country.
Brown is a staunch Wellingtonian but believes playing games outside of the capital is only beneficial to the A-League side.
"It's a Wellington-based team, but I like to think of it as a NZ team,'' he said. "Certainly it's made up of a whole lot of Kiwis from around the place.
"It's always great when we take the Phoenix around the place, and we always get well-supported.''
That much cannot be disputed. A pre-season match against Brisbane in Dunedin attracted 15,000, though a portion of that figure could be attributed to the novelty of the newly opened Forsyth Barr Stadium.
That followed more than 14,000 fans packing AMI stadium in Christchurch to watch the Phoenix beat Adelaide - Saturday's opposition - last season.
With crowds dwindling so far this season at Westpac Stadium, it could be suggested Wellington's coffers would profit greatly from further home-away-from-home games.
Brown defended the Wellington fans, but said he'd like to see a mix of games in the capital and other parts of the country.
"The fans in Wellington are always good. It's probably tailed off a little bit here or there but some of our results haven't helped. Wellington will always be a special place but I think it's important we do play these games.''
That's because aside from merely boosting the Phoenix's cashflow, playing around New Zealand can also only increase this country's playing stocks.
"I'd like to see in the coming years more and more Kiwis from different spots around New Zealand playing for us,'' Brown said. "The more people know about the Phoenix, only good things will come for football in New Zealand.''
Taking the show on the road certainly hasn't proved detrimental to the Phoenix's results in seasons past. The loss to the Roar in the deep south was more an indictment on their performance than anything, according to Brown, and Ben Sigmund's fairytale injury-time header secured the three points in Christchurch last season.
Prior to that, there was a loss to Sydney in Palmerston North - a match Brown called a "stinker'' - and another win over Adelaide which drew almost 20,000 punters.
With the results unimpaired and the numbers a vast improvement on the sub-10,000 crowds that regularly show up at the Ring of Fire, Brown said there was only one real downside to the excursions away from Wellington.
"Probably the only time you don't think it's great is when you have to get up and go to the airport two days after getting back in the country, like this morning.
"But you come up here and see the support you get, it makes it really exciting for the players. It's really easy, everything's laid on, and people come out in numbers. So there's a lot of positives.''
The only thing that could cease the Phoenix's nomadic ways is another New Zealand-based A-League team, a prospect Brown thought must happen to advance football on this side of the Tasman.
"I look at it as two A-League teams is the future for New Zealand, two professional teams, a couple of youth feeder teams playing in the Aussie youth league.
"I'd love to see a Christchurch side, that would be a wonderful place. Auckland, I'm sure could support it as well. Saturday will be a good test for the Auckland sporting public to see if they could. It hasn't worked all that well in the past.''
