Bradford's Stobart Super League game at leaders Wigan on Friday could be their last as they battle for survival.
The Bulls' financial situation was described as "grim" by the man brought in to save the club from liquidation, revealing they have no money to pay the players their wages for July and that he will be open to offers for players.
Brendan Guilfoyle, from insolvency firm The P&A Partnership, has been appointed as joint administrator in a short-term bid to protect the club from a winding-up petition brought by HM Revenue & Customs over an unpaid tax bill in excess of £300,000.
He warns he has just 10 working days to find a buyer and insists "my phone is pretty cold at the moment".
"I don't want to be the guy that shuts down Bradford Bulls," he said.
"It's a crisis and selling players and redundancies cannot be ruled out.
"The situation is really quite grim. I'm unfunded and I don't have very much money. I certainly don't have anywhere near enough to pay the wages for July.
"I suppose I'm lucky in that the June wages are paid but I need someone to come in and fund this club quickly."
Guilfoyle, who broke the news to head coach Mick Potter and the players this morning, said there was no doubt over Friday's game but he could not guarantee the next home game match against London Broncos on July 8 would go ahead.
"(Chief executive) Ryan Duckett has been marshalling what limited cash the club have very successfully so he paid the wages for June and he has enough money to send the players to Wigan," Guilfoyle said.
"The next scheduled home game is just outside the deadline so we'll look at that and see whether we're going to mount that game. We'll talk to the RFL."
Asked then if Friday's game could be the last, he said: "It could be. I can't rule it out, hopefully not.
"Super League won't be the same without the Bradford Bulls so someone has got to step forward."
Guilfoyle was due to meet Rugby Football League officials later today to discuss the possible ramifications of today's development.
Clubs who breach RFL insolvency regulations leave themselves open to a deduction of six points, although that is at the discretion of the RFL's board of directors.
They docked Crusaders and Wakefield four points each when they went into administration before the start of the 2011 season, showing leniency because the new owners voluntarily agreed to make payments to creditors.
A points deduction would almost certainly end the team's bid to reach the play-offs for the first time in four years but that could be the least of their worries.
When the current three-year licences were awarded last July, then chairman Richard Lewis warned they could be revoked if clubs were deemed to be failing to meet standards.
And any new owners would also need to regain the Bulls' membership of Super League and that may not be a foregone conclusion, amid growing support for a reduction in the number of teams in the top flight.
Guilfoyle added: "What is envisaged is that a new company is formed to buy the business of Bradford Bulls and what is hoped is that the RFL will agree to transfer the franchise to that new company. But that is at their discretion.
"The advantage of administration is that it wipes out the debt but the disadvantage is that it calls into doubt the franchise from the RFL.
"I haven't seen it but experience tells me it will have provisions in it for it to be terminated in these circumstances."
Bradford director Stephen Coulby, who rejoined the club's board in May in a bid to find new investment, said the club were left with no alternative but to go into administration when fund-raising efforts fell short by £400,000.
Both Coulby and Guilfoyle are now hoping a potential buyer will find a debt-free club a more attractive proposition.
"It's sad enough today as it is but it would be a total tragedy if this was the end of the club," said Coulby, who said the Bulls were losing £100,000 a month.
"Hopefully the people who have shown the initial interest will want to come back but now it's a case of speaking to the administrator."
Guilfoyle added: "I've got a list of people and I'm going to ring them up and say 'it's all changed, the circumstances are different, do you want to talk to me'.
"I hope and pray that they will but I'm literally holding my breath.
"What we are hoping is that the administration will be seen as a positive development by someone who wants to buy the club because the sum of money that will be required will be less.
"They won't have to pay the historic creditors, the largest of which is HMRC for over £300,000.
"The sum involved in taking the club forward will be a relatively small amount to acquire the club and the ability to fund the losses for the remainder of this year and the losses that are anticipated in 2013.
"The club had been budgeting to lose £1.2million a year so losses next year will be significantly lower than that because 17 players are coming out of contract at the end of this season.
"So there is an opportunity to re-structure the squad and employ players who, frankly, are paid less."
