Perth Wildcats statement: RAC Arena finals availability

Nearly 10,000 Wildcats fans are set to miss out on seeing their team’s return to finals action live next week due to a frustrating schedule clash with Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, who has the venue booked out for the entire week for one concert on Saturday 15 February.

It means Wildcats are set to be forced out of their regular 13,500-seat home for a potential play-in fixture next week, with Perth High-Performance Centre (Perth HPC) - a 4,000-seat arena in Mt Claremont - the next best option.

The Wildcats are currently third on the NBL ladder with one game remaining in the regular season against Adelaide at RAC Arena on Friday night.

If they remain third, they earn play-in hosting rights against the fourth-ranked team, likely to be played on Tuesday 11 February.

The Red Army have been out in force since the Wildcats’ long-awaited return home, tallying nearly 52,500 attendances in the four games back since a seven-game away stretch.

Arena said he felt for the club’s nearly 11,000 members, with more than half set to miss out on the Wildcats’ finals opener.

“We have an issue unfortunately with RAC Arena,” Arena said.

“I love Kylie, but Kylie is coming to town and RAC Arena has basically booked out the whole week.

“It’s not a done deal but basically she’s playing on Saturday night and they’ve booked the whole week.

“RAC Arena in their infinite wisdom has decided, we’re going to book the whole of the first week of finals out at RAC Arena.

“I’m super disappointed, super mad. We’re the anchor tenant there.

“You do really well on the ladder and you want a home-court advantage, and we’re going potentially to Perth HPC.

“The amount of members that might miss out on this, I feel really bad for them and I’m just as mad as they are.

“It was quite a heated conversation with RAC Arena. I’m super frustrated with it, we’re supposed to be the anchor tenant there and I don’t feel like we’re being treated that way.”

The Wildcats haven't played at Perth HPC - then Challenge Stadium - in more than a decade, since the 2011-12 NBL season.

They also don’t train there, with Bendat Basketball Centre in Floreat the team's regular training venue.

Perth Wildcats crowd since returning to RAC Arena since seven-game road stint

17 Jan v Adelaide 36ers: 13,570

22 Jan v Melbourne United: 12,505

25 Jan v Cairns Taipans: 13,269

31 Jan v SEM Phoenix: 13,156

Current Perth Wildcats membership tally: 10,837