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 tol ...

ing company. Founded in 1979, the company is owned by TEG Pty Ltd with its headquarters in Sydney and operates ticketing operations for entertainment and sporting events in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. There are companies using the name Ticketek in other countries however these are not a part of the 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. Ticketek was part of PBL's

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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 profits. Ticketek was originally called Best Available Seating Service (Queensland) Pty Ltd (BASS). It was one of at least three Australian Best Available Seating Service operations (which originated from the Bay Area Seating Service (BASS) of San Francisco, USA), the others being 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 partially, then completely, bought out by

Ticketmaster Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. 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 Enter ...

. In November 2000, Ticketek formed a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

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 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Super Dome 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 and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

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, 132 849.

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 the ticketing for ANZ Stadium, Allphones Arena, Sydney Cricket Ground, Allianz Stadium, Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Rod Laver Arena, AAMI Park, Her Majesty's Theatre, Crown Entertainment Complex, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Newcastle Entertainment Centre, WIN Entertainment Centre Wollongong, Canberra Stadium, National Gallery of Australia Canberra, Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide Oval, Crown Perth Entertainment Complex, Regal Theatre and the Perth Arena. 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 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 motivators and models. For example, a traveler might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a give ...

, 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. Ticketek Pty Ltd was penalised $2.5 million for misusing its market power 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 The Australian Football League finals series, more generally known as the AFL finals, and known from 1897 until 1989 as the Victorian Football League finals series or VFL finals, is a playoff tournament held at the end of each AFL season to deter ...

on sale in 2018, angering thousands of fans. The AFL was forced to reschedule the sale for the following day.

References

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