New Zealand will have another club in the A-League, with reports Auckland and Canberra will join the competition as expansion teams in 2024.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports both cities have been singled out as ideal candidates for new clubs by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), with an official announcement expected today.
APL chief executive Danny Townsend reveals Auckland and Canberra have been designated "preferred market status", with hopes to award club licenses to new owners in June.
He confirmed the APL would seek expansion fees of about NZ$26 million per club to fund the new franchises in an attempt to get a foothold in untapped markets.
"We want to go and look at all the things that you need to deliver a really successful football club... so we can sort of build a club in a box and then find the right owner for the box," said Townsend.
"This is not about investing in the A-League today, it's about investing in where we're headed and we're really confident the direction we're headed is going to be one that will drive a lot more enterprise value in those licenses."
"You can never be certain, but I think there's enough interest in the initial meetings we've had that there's certainly [investors] out there that want to be involved.
"We're pretty confident and we've also got a plan B. If that doesn't work, there are options for the league to set it up, like the [Western Sydney] Wanderers.
"That's not our preferred option and we don't think we'll need to do that."
Auckland will join Wellington Phoenix as the only other New Zealand A-League club, 15 years since it last had an entry.
New Zealand Knights played in the first two editions of the competition, before folding in 2007 and being replaced by the Phoenix.
Two further clubs are expected to join the A-League over the next three years, bringing the men's and women's competitions to 16 teams each.
NZ Football welcomes reports that the competition is looking to expand in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
"One of our priorities, as an organisation, is establishing professional pathways for our players and a second New Zealand side in the country’s most populous city would unlock more opportunities for Kiwi talent," it said.
"We look forward to working with Football Australia and other key stakeholders across Australasia to explore this opportunity."
