Tickets have been flying out of Carisbrook like water from its drains over the past two weeks and the Otago Rugby Football Union remains hopeful the July 12 Tri-Nations test will sell out by tomorrow night.
A little more than 2000 tickets remain and national sales do not begin until Monday.
There was immense pressure on the ORFU to sell out this test, Dunedin's first in three years.
The NZRU is no fan of the ageing ground, but granted it the game both to mark 100 years of test rugby at Carisbrook and recognise the progress made in looking at a new stadium.
Nearly everyone had been surprised at how brisk sales had been and Reid said the NZRU had to be impressed.
"They're pleased and they'll be really pleased when we sell out. The message we want to give to them is that we can fill a stadium from people within our catchment area.
"We're not reliant on the rest of New Zealand. The assumption may have been we were reliant on other people coming to Dunedin for a fun weekend.
"We're going to get very close to selling out before tickets go on sale nationwide. That's a good message to send."
Other grounds have struggled to sell out.
There were thousands of empty seats at Westpac Stadium for last weekend's All Blacks-Ireland test, and Carisbrook has already sold a higher percentage of tickets than Eden Park had a week out from tonight's England game.
Selling out might help Dunedin's chances of getting another test next year, although the NZRU will be loath to overlook Hamilton again, and the two cities are now generally competing for one test.
Reid said assembling the test organising committee in December had been a smart move and he believed chairman Stuart Heal had done an excellent job.
The launch with All Black greats, the club incentive and the opportunity for the people of the South to buy tickets before anyone else had created a surge in interest.
"I think we've directed our communications straight at our stakeholders. They've understood what we've been trying to do.
"The test is really important for all sorts of reasons - for Otago rugby, for the city, for the Highlanders, for the new stadium. I think people have picked up on it.
"They may not have come to Highlanders games and they may not come to Air New Zealand Cup later this year. But this has obviously particularly caught their interest.
"For the first time in a long time, I think, we've treated our local people as special. I have nothing but anecdotal evidence to back that up but I think it's a fair assumption."
Accommodation in Dunedin is starting to fill up.
Dunedin Visitor Centre manager Louise Van de Vlierd said all hotels and motels in the city centre were booked and large groups would now have to be split up.
Rooms were still available in bed and breakfasts and homestays, and in motels 30min out of Dunedin.
The numbers
Ticket sales for the 'Brook test
• Tuesday: 700
• Wednesday: 1135
• Thursday: 1163
• Friday: 1177
• Left to sell: 1583
• Sold out: Terrace standing, Terrace Gold, Rose Stand, Railway uncovered.
• Some left: Main Stand (20-30 singles), Hillside Stand (few hundred), Railway uncovered (about 1600).
