Brad Banducci is stepping down as chief executive of Ticketek after little more than a year in the top job, telling staff on Wednesday that he will leave at the end of this month. Cameron Hoy will take over as chief executive from June 1.

Banducci said: "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" and added: "I felt the time was right to transition leadership of the group." The exit closes a brief run in which he tried to steady and grow the business after taking the ticketing role in April 2025, following an eight-year tenure as Woolworths chief executive.

The size of the setback is hard to miss. During Banducci’s short stint, Ticketek lost a Venues NSW deal reportedly worth about $100 million, and that contract is now in the hands of rival Ticketmaster. Earlier this year, the company also lost its contract with Melbourne Park, which covered tickets for events at Rod Laver Area and other key venues in the Tennis precinct.

Banducci’s departure lands after a stretch of pressure that followed him from his old role. He left Woolworths in 2024 after a period of intense scrutiny on the sector, and the move into Ticketek had been framed as a fresh start. Instead, the loss of two lucrative clients in quick succession has left the group facing a more limited runway than it had when he arrived.

Hoy said the business "exists to partner with the world’s best venues, promoters and rights-holders to connect fans to the moments that matter most and I am honoured to lead such an entrepreneurial business and team." The next phase now falls to him, but the immediate judgment on Banducci is already clear: he leaves after a short tenure marked less by expansion than by the erosion of two important contracts.