The AFL can buy the stadium on March 8, 2025, for $1 but clubs want the league to buy it earlier and fix the poor gate returns at the venue.
The Saints were handed a bill of almost $100,000 for a home game at Etihad last season, when the same match at the MCG would have generated a six-figure profit.
''You would only do it if it was financially viable. We've always said … we would not put the competition at risk and we would only pay a fair price, and we are a long way from that,'' Demetriou told The Age’s Jon Pierik.
It's understood the AFL has offered about $250 million for the stadium, a sum its owners believe is $20 million to $30 million short.
Demetriou also told Channel Nine's Financial Review Sunday, the AFL would double its profit of last season making about $15 million in 2013 and its media unit had the capability to broadcast matches ''next week'' on its website if it chose to.
