The Weekend 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 important, 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 out there."
Larsen pointed out most major associations have just one-person commercial and marketing teams.
"That ranges from the promotion of junior cricket, senior cricket, college cricket, anything grassroots focused, through to securing sponsorship, membership and hospitality revenues in the professional game."
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 to 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."
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.
"Both arms are critical to the success of the sport, but we need a framework where we get people who are experts in high performance and the professional game running that part of the sport and we ensure we have people who are experts in development and the amateur game governing that area.
"We can't continue to have compromised decision-making which impacts negatively on both.
"If you're a private investor you're interested in two things: winning and making money. That creates a true high-performance environment, where an annual loss is not accepted and there is no compromise in providing the right resources for teams.
"Any change must also ensure the amateur is in a better place than what it was before."
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 like in 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."
Northern Districts chief executive David Cooper said how they structured the franchise agreements would be the key to success.
"If we are going to go down this path, we need to be looking at all forms of cricket within the professional parameters."
Cooper, who is understood to be applying for the NZC CEO's job - as are Bryan Pearson, David White and Bruce Edgar - said there were some serious questions still needing to be worked through, but he had already had inquiries from interested buyers.
"Both within New Zealand and offshore people are showing interest," he said. "Certainly there is an opportunity [to attract investors] and we're talking large sums of money. The numbers would surprise a lot of people."
The sell-down is similar to what is proposed in rugby, with the Rugby Union seeking increased capital for its five Super 15 franchises, but there is an added attraction in cricket as teams try to win a big payday by qualifying for the Champions League T20.
