Parramatta home games will likely be marked venue TBC when the NRL season draw is released following stalled negotiations over the new Western Sydney Stadium.
The Eels are expected to play the first match in the $300-million venue in April, but they believe an offer from the stadium's operating group VenuesLive to play home games there is "unacceptable" after months of talks.
Obtaining the right stadium deal is key for the Eels, who believe they have been financially hurt while playing out of ANZ Stadium for the past two seasons in a now-expired agreement reached by their previous management.
The club sought the advice of a consultancy firm, who indicated the offer to them was well below benchmarks of other clubs across multiple sports with different stadiums across Australia.
The deal is crucial for the future of the club, given they have built much of their 2019 marketing around a return home to Parramatta and the contract could be in place for as long as 25 years.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"Anywhere that long we want to make sure we get it right," Eels chief executive Bernie Gurr told AAP.
"We want to be fair and reasonable. Historically we haven't had great deals.
"The proposed deal we've been offered is not where we need it to be to get the financial outcomes we need.
"We need to make sure we get those reasonable outcomes so we can invest in our football program, our junior footy program and our community initiatives."
The NRL is aware of the issue it prepares to announce the season draw, expected next week, while the Wests Tigers have already agreed to play four games at the 30,000-seat stadium next year.
In a letter sent to members on Tuesday, the Eels said they were also negotiating event costs, food and beverage prices, expanded corporate opportunities and a clearer public transport plan.
"It's still our objective to play there, we just have to make sure it's on the right terms," Gurr said.
"It's all dependent on us getting what we believe is a fair and reasonable deal."
A spokesman for VenuesLive, which also operates ANZ Stadium, said talks would continue.
"The Eels are one of the great Sydney sporting clubs with one of the biggest supporter bases in the NRL, and the club has an enormous opportunity playing out of the new 30,000-seat Western Sydney Stadium from 2019," he said.
"Every attempt is being made to strike a deal in time for the release of the 2019 NRL draw.
"While a deal has not been reached at this time, we remain committed to working with the Eels to ensure their members and fans get to see all that the magnificent new stadium has to offer."
NSW Opposition leader Luke Foley used the opportunity to take Premier Gladys Berejiklian to task over the matter.
"What a shambles the Premier's stadium strategy is," Foley said.
"All these billons being splurged on stadiums and they can't even find the teams to play in it."
