And A-League club owners have been told that bringing in two new clubs in an expanded competition would result in net losses over the next six years.

The FFA issued a statement on Tuesday explaining that it is only now beginning a feasibility study for expanding the A-League following talks with club owners earlier this month.

The club chiefs want more teams, more fixtures and a greater share of the television rights to alleviate costs and grow the game.

But the FFA argues that it cannot increase club distributions dramatically even though its new TV deal worth $57 million a year with Fox Sports is a significant uplift on the old one because it has wider fiscal responsibilities, including paying for the Socceroos and a plethora of national teams.

"Analysis of football's financial position following the conclusion of a new six year broadcasting agreement in December last year shows that rapid growth in the game generally - and expansion (of the leagues) in particular - will require significant more capital investment. Changing the ownership and operating model would create a more attractive opportunity for current and prospective investors," the FFA says.

FFA chairman Steven Lowy has recently talked of attracting private equity investors to put money into the league to help fund its development.

"The FFA's analysis found that expanding the A-League by two teams under the current model would result in net losses over the next six years

"This is because grant distributions to the new clubs, and the increase in costs to FFA for operational matters such as transport would be greater than the additional revenue the clubs would generate through broadcast arrangements and sponsorships. As the FFA is a not-for-profit organisation that redistributes all of its income into the clubs and other parts of the game, such losses are not sustainable.

"We recently advised the clubs that we must explore a new model for the Hyundai A-League/Westfield W-League. We agree that we need to protect the value of the existing licences in which the current owners have invested," said FFA chief David Gallop.

"We want to expand the leagues but this has to happen as part of a new structure. That's why we are now working with the clubs to determine the future structure of the leagues and the criteria for expansion.

"We will examine these issues in detail and expect this work will take months rather than weeks. We know that those consortia that have expressed an interest in joining the league would want to be part of something that is financially sustainable and attractive as a sound investment," Gallop added.

The game's governing body has hired a corporate advisory company, said Gallop as "' the decisions we make around the future will have an impact on every aspect of football in Australia".