Former Woolworths boss steps down as Ticketek CEO after one year
Updated ,first published
Former Woolworths boss Brad Banducci has abruptly resigned as chief executive of Ticketek after just over a year in the top job, during which the company lost a number of lucrative customers.
Banducci, who had an eight-year tenure as CEO of Woolworths before taking the Ticketek job in April 2025, told Ticketek Entertainment Group (TEG) staff on Wednesday that he would be leaving at the end of this month.
During Banducci’s short tenure, Ticketek failed to retain some of its most valuable contracts to manage ticketing at events; this includes Venues NSW’s contract reportedly worth around $100 million.
That bid was won by Ticketmaster, which is owned by US$38 billion ($53 billion) multinational giant Live Nation and also organizes tours for many of the world’s biggest artists. Earlier this year Ticketek also lost its contract with Melbourne Park, which covered tickets to events at the Rod Laver District and other major venues in the tennis district.
“When I joined the group about a year ago, I came to take on a specific role to prepare the group for its next growth horizon,” Banducci said. “I felt it was time to change the leadership of the group.”
Ticketek is owned by American private equity giant Silver Lake, which acquired it in 2019. In a deal reportedly worth $1.3 billion. Like Live Nation, Silver Lake expanded TEG into a broader company that also operates venues and manages tours.
Earlier on Wednesday, before Banducci’s departure was announced, buy now, pay later company Afterpay announced that TEG had acquired the naming rights to an arena in Sydney.
The venue, formerly known as Qudos Bank Arena, will be renamed Afterpay Arena under a deal that will also see Square, owned by Afterpay’s parent company Block, take over the entertainment site’s payment terminals.
Cameron Hoy, TEG’s chief operating officer, will take over as chief executive from June 1.
Banducci paid tribute to Hoy and said he would lead the company’s next chapter.
Hoy said the company “exists to partner with the world’s best venues, promoters and rights holders to connect fans with the moments that matter most, and I’m honored to lead such an entrepreneurial business and team.”
South African-born Banducci left Woolworths in 2024 following a period of intense scrutiny on the industry, including his departure from an interview with the ABC. Four Corners amidst questioning about competition and pricing.
Since leaving Woolworths, he has been a partner at Cinderella Collective, a co-working space and business networking organization for entrepreneurs. According to its website, the collective “embodies the spirit of UBUNTU, a wonderful African expression that conveys a sense of interconnectedness, humanity and family.”
Banducci wrote on his LinkedIn profile that he “actively tries to implement UBUNTU every day.”
Groundbreaking legal proceedings in the US last month revealed that Live Nation had violated competition laws by monopolizing control of venues, talent and ticketing. The company objects.
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Elias Visontay is the National Consumer Affairs Reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
