They only play in Auckland

Having checked Wikipedia, they've also had home venues in Wellington, Christchurch, Manakau and Waitakere.

Long enough ago. I recall Shaun Redhage getting sacked by the Breakers!!!! So where's that coach coaching now?

Why are the Eagles called West Coast, they only play in Perth? It's because teams choose the name they feel will work best for them.

They were originally the Auckland Breakers but as Anon said, why alienate the rest of NZ by calling them Auckland being as the rest of the country hates AK.
All their home games have been played in either the NSEC or Vector under the current owners. Only pre season games are held out of Auckland, this I believe is to do with selling season tickets to members.

Shaun Redhage prob got away with 1/10 spin moves as a breaker, Bevo must have told him to save the spin for the dance floor

I remember average to poor atmospheres at Waitakere Trust and empty games at Manukau. Mystery Creek was a fail also.

The Green/Boucher text fiasco was terrible.

Wonder what Aaron Olsens up to these days?

It seems to work too - I deal with people all over NZ for work, and I know that they mention the Breakers to me a ton more than anyone in Australia ever mentions any NBL team.

If another NZ team entered the fray it would make sense to probably drop the "New Zealand" from their name.

As paul said, the teams call themselves what they think will work for them. The number of other teams with a potential claim to the geographic area embodied in a chosen name doesn't matter. See "Victoria Titans" entering the NBL in 1999 (kind of) when there was already another Victorian team that was in its 16th season of NBL.

At anon two above, think of the term JAFA and that might shed some light on it. Never heard of a JAFW!

I live in Auckland and support the Wellington Phoenix, not sure how the name would alienate anyone

I generally don't like teams being named after a state, country or region (like West Coast for example). I definitely prefer city names. For me it gives a greater sense of pride for that team's fan base, that they represent your home town.

I'd prefer it if the Breakers called themselves Auckland personally, but I can see why they don't, and each to their own.

As for the Breakers, do they get fans from other towns/cities in NZ that make the journey to Auckland to watch a game? Im curious to know.

Yes, they sometimes talk to people on the Sky broadcast who have come from outside Auckland to watch.

Where my wife is from on the South Island they almost all watch Breakers games and love chatting about it, but I'm not sure they'd be so enthusiastic if the team was called Auckland. There's a stigma there for some people.

Thanks for that. Well, if its working in their favour then it makes sense and I have no problem with that.

Still not a preferred name for me though - But I live in Perth, so I hate the Breakers no matter what their called!

The NZ Breakers is a brand now
How many other ANBL teams have had a NYTimes article written about them ?

Why did they play the NZ anthem at the Semi last week? I get why they played the Australian anthem at an NBL final, but it wasn't an international game and Breakers aren't a national team?

I disagree.............the Australian anthem because it is an Australian League. The NZ club isn't representing NZ, they just happen to be based there - IMHO