Speaking at Gold Coast's season launch on Tuesday, Demetriou said he was concerned by the free hit the NRL, Super Rugby and concluding stages of soccer's A-League got before the AFL fired a shot.
He said it was particularly difficult for the two teams in Queensland (Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast) and the two in NSW (Sydney Swans and GWS) to generate publicity when the other codes were up and running.
"I don't think it's sustainable for our competition to be starting the season when we start it," Demetriou said.
"We are four weeks behind the NRL and Super 15 and end of the A-League. It makes it hard for the two clubs in this town and in NSW to generate any oxygen when we're doing that.
"That's a decision we have to think about very seriously and we have to do something about it."
Much like Cricket Victoria's current agreement with the MCG, Queensland Cricket also has ties with the Gabba that restricts AFL being played there before the end of March.
Demetriou said this should not stop some lateral thinking.
He said the AFL was not averse to staggering the start of the season, as it has this year, with up to three or four games not using cricket grounds.
"We've got Metricon available," he said.
"You could play away from the Gabba, play them as away games. I think if we start to think about bringing the season forward earlier, thinking more laterally about it with the unavailability of stadia, we shouldn't close our mind to that."
Demetriou said the structure of the season would be debated at the end of the year and would include the make-up of the pre-season competition.
"What shape and form that takes to give it some credibility we have to consider," he said.
"We always said for the first two years of this broadcast rights agreement we'd leave the system the way it is, 18 teams and 22 weeks, but at the end of this year we'll review how that looks and see if we can do things differently."
Michael Whiting covers AFL news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
