In a proposal that has gained significant traction in recent weeks, the country's six major associations - Auckland, Northern Districts, Central Districts, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago - will be encouraged to sell up to 50% of their ownership to private investors.
Domestic cricket would then be run under a new company with a working title of the New Zealand Premier League, which would remain wholly owned by New Zealand Cricket.
The NZPL would cover all three forms of domestic cricket - twenty/20, one-day and four-day - marking it out as significantly different from other franchise competitions, such as the Indian Premier League and Australia's Big Bash, whose focus is solely on T20.
Canterbury has already put one investor on hold as franchise agreements are finalised and the more conservative elements around the NZC board table are talked around.
The Herald understands some of the board have been "spooked" by a difficult financial year and concern over new leadership needing time to bed in when chief executive Justin Vaughan leaves in January.
However, with discussions between NZC, the six major associations and the Players' Association well advanced, most see the move as inevitable.
Gavin Larsen, who recently stepped down after four years as CEO of Wellington Cricket, said his sport had not moved with the times.
"There's been an attempted lifting of the bar, with everything in terms of professional cricket over the past 10 years, but the actual structure of major associations has stayed put. We're structured the same way we were at the start of the 1990s.
"I know my counterparts around the country are singing from the same hymn sheet," he said of the desire to inject fresh ideas and, most importantly, capital into a moribund scene.
In a sign of the times, the Plunket Shield, once a summer staple in the halcyon days of Sports Roundup, is not even broadcast live on sports radio any longer.
"Simply put, we're just not geared up well enough to maximise the opportunities that are currently out there."
Players' Association manager Heath Mills agreed the move was inevitable, admitting he had been involved in discussions with NZC and the major associations for some time.
He has no reservations about taking domestic cricket down an untried route, saying something had to be done around the structure of the game to ensure it was in a better position to advance the sport.
"It will be a progressive step for the game," he said.
Mills said major associations were saddled with a unique governance structure where they were responsible for the amateur and professional arms, despite the aims and requirements of those two strands often being divergent.
"We can't continue to have compromised decision making which impacts negatively on both," Mills said.
The Players' Association believed it was critical, however, that NZC owned and controlled the competition to ensure decisions were made in the best interests of the game and did not believe that would put off investors.
Mills also did not want to see a system implemented like Australia, where only the T20 teams were franchised, believing it just created operational and commercial difficulties.
"One-day and four-day cricket are key parts of our operation and also need to be enhanced. Under the right financial model, we're certain investors would be interested in all three," he said.
Northern Districts chief executive David Cooper said how they structured the franchise agreements would be key to the success of the initiative.
"If we are going to go down this path, we need to be looking at all forms of cricket within the professional parameters," Cooper said.
Cooper, who is understood to be applying for the NZC CEO's job along with Bryan Pearson, David White and Bruce Edgar, said there were some serious questions that still needed to be worked through, but he had already had inquiries from interested buyers.
The sell-down is similar to what is being proposed in rugby, with the New Zealand Rugby Union seeking increased capital for their five Super 15 franchises, but there is an added attraction in cricket as teams try to win a big pay-day by qualifying for the Champions League T20.
