Former Woolies boss Brad Banducci quits CEO role at Ticketek after just over a year at the company

By MATT JONES, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 06:16, 21 May 2026 | Updated: 06:16, 21 May 2026 Former Woolworths boss Brad Banducci has suddenly quit his role as chief executive of Ticketek, just over a year into the role. Mr Banducci, who took over the job in April 2025, told staff at Ticketek Entertainment Group (TEG) on Wednesday that he would leave at the end of the month. It follows a poor period for the business after it lost several lucrative contracts under Mr Banducci's leadership, significantly reducing the company's share of the ticketing market. One deal was with Venues NSW (picked up by Ticketmaster), which was reportedly worth about $100million. It included the Sydney Cricket Ground, Accor Stadium, CommBank Stadium, Allianz Stadium and the redeveloped Helloworld Stadium in Penrith. Another contract was with Melbourne Park (picked up by AXS) that included all events for Rod Laver Arena, AAMI Park, John Cain Arena and Margaret Court Arena. AXS is owned by AEG and offers ticketing for The O2 arena in London, Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Melbourne Park and Venues NSW contracts formed a substantial portion of TEG's ticketing revenue. Brad Banducci has quit his role as chief executive of Ticketek after a tough period Ticketek has lost two massive contracts since Mr Banducci assumed leadership (stock image) TEG made $912million in revenue in the 2025 financial year, according to filings with the corporate regulator, and registered a loss of $160million. It did, however, transfer $310million to a parent company in Singapore as a zero-interest loan. In his departing statement, Mr Banducci said he felt the time was right to 'transition leadership of the group'. 'When I joined the group just over a year ago, I came in to do a specific role – to set the group up for the next horizon of growth,' he said. Hours before his departure was announced, Afterpay bought the naming rights to a major entertainment venue TEG owns in Sydney. Qudos Bank Arena, in Homebush, will be renamed Afterpay Arena, under a deal that will see Square, owned by Afterpay's parent company, Block, take over the payment terminals at the venue. The South African-born Mr Banducci left Woolworths in 2024 after his controversial Four Corners interview sparked nationwide outrage about supermarket price hikes during the Covid pandemic. Mr Banducci said it wasn't his 'finest moment'. TEG chief operating officer Cameron Hoy (pictured) will succeed Mr Banducci on June 1 One of the lost lucrative contracts was between TEG and Melbourne Park, which included the Rod Laver Arena (stock image) TEG chief operating officer Cameron Hoy, who has worked at Ticketek for 20 years, will succeed Mr Banducci as CEO from June 1. Mr Banducci said his successor had experienced growth, change and every stage of the industry and was the right person to lead the group. 'It feels appropriate to pass on the baton to someone who has made such a major contribution to building the group we have today and who is committed to the next chapter,' he said. Mr Hoy said he was enthusiastic about his new role. 'TEG exists to partner with the world's best venues, promoters and rights-holders to connect fans to the moments that matter most,' he said. 'I am honoured to lead such an entrepreneurial business and team.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.