Ed Sheeran likely to open Perth Stadium

The WA sports minister may have been Thinking Out Loud when he confessed he was unfamiliar with Ed Sheeran, but the Grammy award winning British musician's concert is likely to be the first event at the Perth Stadium.

The state government has confirmed the $1.2 billion venue will not be ready to host the Ashes cricket in December, as indicated by the previous government, and the Test will instead be played at the WACA.

Sports Minister Mick Murray said he was "pretty confident" the stadium would be ready for the start of the 2018 AFL season.

"If we have an extremely wet winter ... and it delays things, well that's beyond our control," he told reporters on Wednesday.

Mr Murray also conceded the pedestrian bridge providing access to the stadium was something the government still had to sort out

"If the bridge isn't ready, we'll have to make some really tough decisions or work out alternative routes to the ground," he said.

Mr Murray said it was unfortunate the stadium could not host the Ashes, but the time frame put in place by the previous government was not possible.

He instead flagged the possibility of the stadium hosting a one day match between England and Australia in January, which would pip Sheeran's concert scheduled for March 3.

"We are looking at that. If there is a chance of doing that, we certainly will," he said.

"The concert is at this stage the first one, but as an official opening we're still working on that."

Treasurer Ben Wyatt said he believed Sheeran would sell out the venue.

"Having these high profile acts .... they put the stadium on the world stage and so you start getting more high profile international acts coming to Perth," he said.

Sheeran is expected to play to more than 55,000 fans and will be joined on stage by just a guitar and effect pedals when he kicks off his Australian tour.

Other big events planned for Perth Stadium are Chelsea Football Club versus Perth Glory next year, as well as State of Origin II and the Bledisloe Cup in 2019.