I do not know much about this question, the only thing I have heard is that commentator on Eurosport mentioned a few times that UCI points one rider obtains are counted for the team which signed him for the next seasons.
So I wondered what are the criteria based on which a team gets WT license for the next season? Is there some minimal number of points they must have? Are there some conditions about the budget? Are there some other conditions a team must fulfill?
After andy256's comment I have looked into UCI cycling regulations. To prevent link rot, I am also adding link to the Wayback Machine. (And even if this fails, it should not be that difficult to find the file on internet.)
It is mentioned there that licenses are awarded based on sporting, ethical, financial and administrative criteria.
Top 16 teams in the UCI World Tour team ranking automatically satisfy the sporting criteria. (2.15.011a) Two more teams are added based on the UCI points from their five best-placed riders in the individual ranking. The teams have a choice whether the riders from the season just complete or the riders contracted for the following seasons should be considered for this purpose. (2.15.011b)
