New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said earlier this week a working party had been set up to look at the Mitre 10 Cup concerning issues such as formats, crowds and revenue.
The competition has been drifting along with crowds and interest waning every year.
The format of a two-division competition, the Premiership and the Championship, was introduced in 2011, and has often been criticised as being too hard to understand.
Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley said there were many issues around the competition and he had been part of the discussions.
There was a mood for change by some unions but it had to be workable and still keep the competition in its proper place.
"We have to be mindful of where it sits in the overall picture. It is still a pathway to head into Super rugby so we don’t want to tinker with that too much," Kinley said.
"But the biggest issue we have to look at is can we fit the competition into the current playing window? Will we be able to cater for everybody and meet everyone’s needs and still be able to play in a 10-week window?"
Playing a straight round robin within a playing window of 11 weeks is not feasible with 14 teams in the competition.
This was done in 2009-10 and the competition went into November which was too late.
Kinley said the biggest bugbear for many unions was no matter how well they performed they could not win the big prize.
"There is that feeling out there among many unions that at the start of the season when you are about to play your first game then you should have a chance to be the top dog, to win the Premiership.
"At the moment with the way it is structured with it being split into two divisions then seven teams have no chance to win the big prize.
"We always know the Canterburys and the Aucklands are going to be there but look at Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay. They’ve had years where they have got on a roll and been really good. But they’re not had the chance to get that top prize.
"They could be on the up for that one year but they don’t have a chance to compete in the top division."
He said some ideas were being chucked around. Some unions did not like midweek games but they were likely to stay as the broadcaster was keen on the Wednesday night games.
Kinley said it was going to take a bit of work and they did not have a lot of time as the draw was to be finalised in the first couple of months of next year.
The two-division structure had teams playing every other side in their division and then four games against teams from the other division.
Kinley did not think it was hard to understand as teams played games every weekend and opponents were known six months in advance.
The competition is due to start in late August next year and finish in late October.