Ticketek is an Australian event

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a to ...

ing company. Founded in 1990, the company is owned by TEG Pty Ltd with its headquarters in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. It operates ticketing operations for entertainment and sporting events in Australia and New Zealand. Other companies use the name Ticketek in other countries. They are unrelated to Ticketek Australia/NZ operations but are a part of Ticketek Pty Ltd/Softix Pty Ltd. Ticketek Pty Ltd sell the Softix premium ticketing software created by Softix Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Ticketek) to other countries. Ticketek Pty Ltd also own the simplified ticket management company Eventopia.

History

Ticketek was originally called Best Available Seating Service (Queensland) Pty Ltd (BASS). It was one of at least three Australian operations with similar names (all of which originated from the Bay Area Seating Service (BASS) of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, USA). The others were BASS (owned by the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust and still operating) and BASS Victoria owned by the Victorian Government under the auspices of the Victorian Arts Centre Trust until it was bought out by

Ticketmaster Ticketmaster Entertainment, LLC is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Ente ...

. Ticketek was owned by

Publishing and Broadcasting Limited Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) was one of Australia's largest corporations. With interests primarily in media and gambling, for the entirety of its existence it was largely controlled by the Packer family. History Predecessors P ...

's Consolidated Press Holdings until it was sold to PBL's internet arm ecorp, in 1999, two years after introducing online ticketing in Australia. Ticketek was ecorp's major source of profit. In November 2000, Ticketek formed a Hong Kong company called Ticketek Hong Kong in a joint venture with the Hong Kong Ticketing Alliance. In early 2003, ecorp sold its 50% stake in the Hong Kong operation to HKTA, with the venture being renamed Hong Kong Ticketing Limited. Ticketek sells around 18 million tickets to over 13,000 events annually. The company has ticketing contracts with certain venues such as the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

, the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

Sydney Super Dome The Sydney SuperDome (currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena for sponsorship reasons) is a multipurpose arena located in Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for th ...

and the

Sydney Entertainment Centre Sydney Entertainment Centre, later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena, was a multi-purpose arena located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished in 1970 to make way for the ...

. It was the provider of ticketing services for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney.

Tickets

Buying tickets

When an event goes on sale, tickets can be purchased online, by phone, through the app or in person. Ticketek operates "outlets" at major shopping centers, some news agencies, pharmacies and other locations. These agencies do not accept telephone bookings or enquiries which must be made online or by using the national charge by phone enquiry number, 13 28 49.

Ticketing options

Tickets can be printed at home (ezyticket), printed at a Ticketek outlet or sent through the mail. Some events allow patrons to enter and exit using digital tickets on smart phones through email, passbook/iPhone app or website/sms.

Notable events and venues

Ticketek manage ticketing for * Accor Stadium * Qudos Bank Arena *

* Allianz Stadium *

(MCG) *

Rod Laver Arena Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose arena located within Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The arena is the main venue for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament of ...

AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, currently known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the suburb of East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victor ...

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

* Crown Entertainment Complex *

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

Brisbane Entertainment Centre The Brisbane Entertainment Centre is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the City of Brisbane, central part of Brisbane, Australia. The centre is managed by SMG (property management), ASM Global. The centre also houses a sporting complex a ...

* Newcastle Entertainment Centre * WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong *

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sp ...

* National Gallery of Australia * Adelaide Entertainment Centre * Adelaide Oval * Crown Perth Entertainment Complex * Regal Theatre *

Perth Arena Perth Arena (known Naming rights, commercially as ) is an entertainment and sporting arena in the city centre of Perth, Western Australia, used mostly for basketball matches. It is located on Wellington Street, Perth, Wellington Street near the ...

Ticketek also sells tickets to events including the Australian Open Tennis Tournament, Royal Melbourne Show, Royal Adelaide Show and Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

Criticism

Ticketek has received severe criticism for excessive booking fees and delivery charges. A 2009 review of ticketing agencies by the Australian consumer magazine,

Choice A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate Motivation, motivators and Choice modelling, models. Freedom of choice is generally cherished, whereas a severely limited or arti ...

, criticised the ticketing industry for lack of competition, insufficiently transparent pricing, and for a lack of information on seat location before booking. While in 2012, Ticketek, in conjunction with

, received the annual Shonky Award from

for its excessive fees. The Federal Court in Sydney penalised Ticketek Pty Ltd $2.5 million for taking advantage of its market power following action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Ticketek's system collapsed during the week 1 AFL finals on sale in 2018, angering thousands of fans. The AFL was forced to reschedule the sale for the following day. In May 2024, it was revealed that a Ticketek data breach exposed the dates of birth, email addresses, genders, names, passwords and salutations of over 16 million past and current customers. The data was listed for sale on a popular hacking forum

References

{{Reflist, 30em Entertainment companies established in 1979 Entertainment companies of Australia Companies based in Sydney Australian companies established in 1979