Pasifika's ownership confirmed on Wednesday they would not continue to fund the franchise beyond 2026.
The side, introduced alongside Fijian Drua in 2022 to the new-look Super Rugby Pacific with the intention to be based in Tonga, played just once there and once in Samoa due to logistical constraints.
Based instead in Auckland, they sit dead last with a 1-7 record and have - with just 15 wins in five seasons - failed to harness commercial or public pulling power while losing their best talent to rival New Zealand outfits.
Their impending exit follows that of the Melbourne Rebels in 2024, also for financial reasons, and reduces the trans-Tasman competition to a 10-team skirmish for 2027.
Pasifika's shaky ground has meant scenarios for 10-team formats have been tossed around by Super Rugby powerbrokers for more than a year.
Reverting to a home-and-away fixture or the introduction of an Australian and New Zealand conference system, with trans-Tasman finals, are two options on the table.
It's unlikely Pasifika will be replaced, although the return of a Japanese Super Rugby presence is also understood to remain an option.
Super Rugby officials are keen to lock in next season's fixtures by August, mindful of avoiding stadium availability issues as rival codes and major events queue for use.
Super Rugby operated in a three-conference system until 2021, when Tokyo's Sunwolves were axed from a 15-team league that still included South African sides.
Before that the Western Force, who have since been reinstalled, were booted alongside South Africa's Southern Kings and Cheetahs in 2018.
It peaked as an 18-team league but will now, after 30 years as a professional competition, looks set to mirror the Super 10 amateur days of the early 1990s.
A conference system would see Australian teams play each other more often, something that proved a hit when COVID-19 forced the competition to operate domestically as Super Rugby AU in 2020 and 2021.
A full home-and-away season would extend campaigns from 14 to 18 regular-season games.
That would mean the season begins earlier - leaving clubs without access to their resting Test stars for the opening rounds - or the season is pushed back to begin later and potentially include a Test window.
NSW Waratahs coach Dan McKellar backed a home-and-away fixture, with a later finish "working into the global calendar", to address a glaring domestic problem.
"I don't think we play enough rugby here," he said, stressing an earlier start would be frowned upon, before the Waratahs host Pasifika on Friday.
"My opinion would be, 'Let's play 18 games - home and away - and get as much rugby as we can into the players, without burning them out'.
"Just make it really, really simple; make it easy for fans to follow and connect with the game.
"We play with the Crusaders here, we play them in Christchurch ... do that with every team, throw in a couple of byes."
Pasifika players will also be up for grabs with All Blacks trump card Ardie Savea's signature the most noteworthy given he was due back to the club after a 2026 Japanese sabbatical.
ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham felt for the players and staff that the club's ambition had not been realised, but hoped for bigger-picture silver linings.
"There's disappointment there (but) I think there's opportunities," he said.
"There's positives to it, obviously negatives for anyone who's involved, but hopefully positives for the competition, that it'll strengthen the other teams and make the competition even stronger."
With AP
