Fact is, You really dont understand the process that lead up to it or the nature of the BOOT project that it began as. While the AFL was the major tenant, it was neither the builder, owner or operator until 2016.
BOOT - build, own, operate, transfer - was the plan from the beginning. Effectively a rent to own project. It was built by a consortium that sold to other consortiums, they then operated and rented the stadium to the AFL and its clubs at high rates until November 2016 when the league bought out the remaining debt the consortium had in the stadium.
That "nominal fee" was $286m (outstanding debt, plus the assets of Stadium Operations Limited) in 2016, as opposed to the $30 it would have been in 2025.