Yes, the team earnings "tether" pretty much ONLY works in the bowl if you're looking for team earnings.
This is why I generally recommend to my aggro-hounds to drag them back to the bowl and not try to continue fighting in the lanes or on the upper mezzanine.
I generally play the central FF generator for the group.
Usually my damage output suffers from it.
For a dedicated support, if your goal is "earnings". Spread your "love taps" around as many enemies as possible and leave finishing them to the rest of the team and league.
As long as your team has at least 1HP of damage on them, the team earns the VMs too, regardless of which person in the league gets the kill.
You only REALLY need one per team.