Women's basketball is unlikely to find a new television partner and should follow the men's game into online streaming, the Australian Sports Commission says.
An ASC review conducted by sporting administrator Eugenie Buckley forecasts a massive shake-up for the Women's National Basketball League.
It recommends shifting the season to April-July and reducing it from 22 games to 16 to concentrate interest.
The league has been left stranded by the collapse of its 35-year partnership with the ABC, which has axed TV coverage for budgetary reasons.
The WNBL's only other "viable option" is to follow the NBL's lead, move into online streaming and take advantage of the sport's "digital opportunity", the report says.
Among the 53 recommendations is expanding to a 10-team competition. A new south-east Queensland team is already scheduled to be introduced.
The report, released on Tuesday, recommends two WNBL teams in both Melbourne and Sydney to create local derbies in the biggest centres.
It casts doubt on the future of the Perth-based West Coast Waves, which it says is "not fulfilling any of the WNBL objectives". Travel costs to Perth are a financial strain.
The Waves won just one game in the 2013-14 season, appeared on ABC television once, had the second-lowest crowds behind the defunct Logan Thunder and had no Opals players on their list.
Despite saying WNBL clubs should be from areas with populations greater than 500,000, the report defends the place of regional teams such as Bendigo and Townsville provided they can maintain good levels of financial and spectator support.
