TEG Live explains resolution with ACCC over 2019's International Basketball Series

TEG Live has explained the resolution it reached with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) following its investigation of its promotion of the USA Men’s team for last year's International Basketball Series at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium.

Following yesterday’s judgement from the ACCC, a spokesperson for TEG Live advised “over 120,000 people attended these games, including nearly 52,000 fans witnessing the Australian Boomers’ historic victory over USA Men’s National Basketball team on Saturday 24th August (2019)  at Marvel Stadium.

“However, we acknowledge that some fans were disappointed that the USA Men’s Basketball team that competed in Australia in August - and went on to China to compete in the 2019 FIBA World Cup - did not include some of the NBA’s biggest stars. Based on the information provided to TEG Live by USA Basketball, we had expected these stars to play.

“This is a particularly complex issue for our industry because in team sport, team selection is within the sole control of sporting teams or federations - in this case USA Basketball - rather than the company promoting the event. In addition, final team selection is always subject to change. Several intervening events contributed to an unprecedented number of player withdrawals ahead of these basketball games.

“For example, it was very unfortunate that top NBA players including Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Paul George were forced to withdraw due to injuries. At the same time, we were pleased that four current NBA All-Stars were in the 13-man squad that played in Australia, including Kemba Walker, Khris Middleton, Jayson Tatum and Donavan Mitchell.

“The level of player withdrawals was unforeseen by both TEG Live and USA Basketball, and USA Basketball has formally acknowledged to TEG Live that it was ‘unexpected and disappointing’, unlike anything they had previously experienced.

“TEG Live’s use of names and images of high-profile players in our marketing was always approved by USA Basketball based on its knowledge at that time. As soon as USA Basketball confirmed that a player was no longer available, we moved quickly to update our marketing materials.

“It is the nature of team sport that the player group can change over time. While we always believed we had a reasonable basis to expect that these players would be participating, we acknowledge the concern of the ACCC that a number of players that were included in our marketing materials did not ultimately play in the games.

“We have therefore agreed with the ACCC that going forward, additional warnings will be made to consumers to ensure that they are aware of that risk before they purchase tickets to future international sporting events that we promote. As agreed with the ACCC, we will also refund customers who purchased tickets after 15 August 2018, did not attend the game and made a refund request prior to the relevant game on the basis that the USA players referred to in TEG Live’s marketing did not participate.”

The TEG Live spokesperson added: “With respect to the floor seating complaints, we created a background image to depict the Marvel Stadium floor seating which suggested the floor seating was tiered. This was not an accurate depiction of how the floor seating was actually implemented for the USA Basketball games in Melbourne.

“As this was the first time a basketball game has ever been staged in a football stadium in Australia, we created this background image. Ultimately that mock-up did not reflect the actual seating arrangements. This was a mistake on our part and, accordingly, we will be contacting all customers who purchased ‘floor’tickets to the Melbourne games from 18th June 2018 and will offer them a full refund of the purchase price of their ticket. We have also agreed with the ACCC to include prominent disclosures to our customers regarding the nature of seating for all future events.”

Image: TEG Live's promotion of the USA team that was to participate in last year's International Basketball Series at Marvel Stadium.