Tasmania Devils CEO Brendon Gale said the divisive Macquarie Point Stadium will be ready for Round 1, 2031, four years after the club enters the AFL competition.
The league's 19th side is set to join in 2028, with Gale confident that their entry to the competition won't be delayed, despite having no home.
The Devils will split their time between the Launceston and Hobart ovals, with a 6-5 split in favour of Hawthorn's secondary home.
"It'll be ready early to mid 2030," Gale explained on SEN.
"But then it needs to be commissioned, and all the wrinkles ironed out. So, we're told it'll be ready for Round 1, 2031.
"In the meantime, we'll play at the existing venues. That's UTAS Stadium in Launceston and Ninja Stadium (in) Bellerive, where North Melbourne have played.
"They're satisfactory venues. In fact, York Park (UTAS) is undergoing a $130 million renovation itself. That'll be one of…probably the best regional venues in the country.
"So we'll play there, and it'll probably be a superior footy venue than Hobart (Ninja Stadium). We'd probably be playing the majority of our games there.
"Ultimately, it's up to the AFL."
However, it's not all sunshine and rainbows according to Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham, who fears that the cost of the build could balloon out to much more than first thought.
The estimated project cost began at $715 million in 2022 and increased to $1.13 billion late last year.
"Yeah, absolutely (I'm concerned)," Pridham said on SEN.
“My concern has always been at what cost, and that's capital cost.
"It's not just the stadium, it's the infrastructure around it, it's the roads, it's the training and administration facilities, it's actually upgrading UTAS Stadium and Blundstone or whatever it's called in Hobart (Ninja Stadium).
"We've already seen a very substantial cost escalation from what was initially floated as costing. I think originally they were saying the stadium was going to cost $715 million. The last time I saw it was about $1.1-1.2 billion.
"I can tell you, I am in the construction industry in a sense - the cost increases that have occurred in the last 12-18 months post-COVID certainly, but also what we're now going to see post the Iran War, are going to be very substantial cost inflation, which is coming through all building products, it's coming through fuel.
"Look, I would be surprised if all up, when you actually add everything up, it doesn't start with a three."
