How to get a friend to stop E - Dating and to date me?

i have a friend... and we are both s... he came out about two years ago... and could never find someone in the physical world.. so he resorted to "dating" people that he found online.. and through forums and RPS, and MMORPG's.. now, i came out not too long ago... and he is currently in a "relationship" with someone from Chicago... (2,200 miles away) they have never met, i can't understand how they can be happy! i want to express how i feel, because we've been hanging out nonstop since the first day we became friends, he incited me to join all his clubs he is in, as well as invited me to dinner with his family. we have almost matching personalities, as well as interests.. we want the same thing in a relationship.. how do i try and pry him out of this relationship with this weirdo online... because all he can do is use a cat5 line to talk to him.. i can be there physically... i can be there when he is hurting, when he is happy.. everything.. i know he is "into" this guy.. but i just could do so much more... even if money never became an issue... distance would.. and the fact that it would take three years before he could legally move out and live with this guy if the guy would turn his life upside down and move out here or vice versa..which i don't think would or could happen... i really want him, and he seems into me.. like i said.. how do i come across and try to get him out and with me?