BASS ticketing started/ developed by Adelaide Festival Centre from 1977 'outsourced' in 2021 to national Ticketek

The BASS ticketing system started and developed by the South Australian government-owned Adelaide Festival Centre from 1977 was "outsourced" to the national Ticketek network in 2021.
Ticketek image courtesy Gig Nation.

Adelaide Festival Centre announced its BASS box office would be taken over by national ticketing provider Ticketek, saying the controversial move was “not privatisation, it’s outsourcing” in 2021.

BASS (Best Available Seating Service) was established owned and operated by the South Australian government-owned Adelaide Festival Centre in 1977 and later became the first internet ticketing website in Australia to offer real-time sales online. BASS in South Australia over 40 years processed ticket sales for South Australia's major arts institutions, including the Festival Theatre, Dunstan Playhouse, Space Theatre and Her Majesty’s Theatre. Many touring productions that used Ticketek elsewhere around Australia were required to use BASS for Adelaide Festival Centre shows.

Announcing the end of BASS, Adelaide Festival Centre said its deal with Ticketek would provide the “most streamlined, up-to-date way to purchase tickets for shows and events at Adelaide Festival Centre venues”. It would give patrons greater access to “blockbuster events touring nationally and internationally through TEG-owned Ticketek’s vast Australasian networks”.

South Australia’s Public Service Association assistant general secretary Natasha Brown said Adelaide Festival Centre’s  decision to outsource its ticketing service was “unwarranted and had taken place under the cover of a COVID lockdown …When all the evidence points to privatisation being completely against the interests of the community, it makes no sense to sell off a small high-performing service that actually creates revenue for our struggling arts community.”

Adelaide Festival Centre chief executive and and artistic director Douglas Gautier said the move was “not privatisation; it’s outsourcing,” He said technological advancements in ticketing and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to reconsider its ticketing model: “We are excited about what this partnership means for the future of live entertainment in South Australia, particularly the opportunity to attract even more great shows for our valued patrons at Adelaide Festival Centre”.

Kerry Packer’s PBL Media started Ticketek in 1979 to sell tickets for World Series Cricket and later joined forces with concert tour promoters Paul Dainty and Garry Van Egmond to form TEG. Ticketek bought out  Queensland’s BASS agency, while Ticketmaster bought out BASS Victoria,  previously owned by the Victorian Government through the Victorian Arts Centre Trust.  Ticketek, operated by TEG Pty Ltd, was bought for about $1 billion in 2019 by multinational technology investment firm Silver Lake that  in turn sold a minority stake to Mercury Capital.

TEG chief executive Geoff Jones said Ticketek would bring “world-leading ticketing technology” to the Festival Centre venues.