After growing frustrated with the club, which has offered little in terms of revenue, public interest and benefit for Australian player development, the FFA rejected Wellington's application for a 10-year licence extension in October last year and began exploring the possibility of other teams to replace the Phoenix.

The Phoenix ownership consortium - the Welnix group - criticised the lack of incentive to invest in a club and negotiated a tiered structured licence of a minimum four years with two separate three-year extensions. Under the new deal, the FFA will impose strict and conditional requirements relating to memberships, attendances, TV viewers and broadcast revenue for the club. If the Phoenix meet the targets by the 2019-20 season, they will automatically be approved for a three-year renewal. The club will again have to pass commercial benchmarks to receive another three-year extension in season 2022-23. All extensions will require FIFA, Oceania Football Confederation and Asia Football Confederation approval.

Sources suggest much of these requirements could be met by the Phoenix raising their profile with big-name marquee players who would turn the forgotten club of the league into a drawcard for away games. As things stand, games against Wellington Phoenix often draw the lowest home crowds for Australian teams and fail to attract significant interest in New Zealand.

It is understood the FFA spends approximately $3.5 million a year on Wellington Phoenix through their share of the TV deal and additional travel costs, despite the club attributing to no more than $300,000 in total broadcast revenue.

Following an FFA board meeting last October, the club was told the governing body was not willing to continue funding it at such a rate under the current terms. The Phoenix sought greater contribution and involvement from New Zealand Football as well as the local council, which is helping establish a centre of excellence. To attract more fans and viewers, Phoenix are also looking at the possibility of following in the footsteps of New Zealand Warriors and adopting a more national profile, including playing more games in other major cities.