BRISBANE is down to two options and could know within the next month where it will play during the Gabba's four-year redevelopment.
The Lions will play games at either its new training and administration base at Springfield or an upgraded RNA Showgrounds in the centre of the city, CEO Greg Swann said on Friday.
The club has been working closely with the state government since Brisbane was granted the 2032 Olympic Games, with its Gabba headquarters set to be demolished at the end of 2025.
They are not expected to be playing at the venue again until the 2030 AFL season.
Brisbane originally started with four options as its temporary home, including Gold Coast's Heritage Bank Stadium and a possibly upgraded Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre at Nathan, 15km south of the city.
Swann said after some "good discussions" with the government they were down to two.
"We'd like to have a decision by the end of the year, but maybe September or October," he said.
"We're down to Springfield or the Showgrounds. We think they're the two most realistic options."
The Showgrounds, an Olympic venue for equestrian, would need to be redeveloped to cater for Australian Football, while Springfield would require temporary stands to increase its capacity.
Whichever venue is settled on would hold somewhere between 20,000-24,000 spectators, significantly down from the Gabba's capacity of 36,000.
The decision comes at a time when the Lions are preparing for a fourth sellout of the season on Saturday against Adelaide and after announcing a membership base that has exceeded 50,000 for the first time.
"It's certainly not ideal," Swann said.
"We'll be out of the Gabba for four years … but the upside is we go back into a 55,000-seat brand new stadium.
"We've got a four-year challenge, no doubt about that.
"The challenge will be to keep the membership engaged and try to get as many as we can to each game, but that's just the circumstances, you don't get the Olympics come around very often.
"Post that, our aim would be to fill the 55,000 every week."