Ticket Rocket entities to be liquidated over unpaid debts

New Zealand Super Rugby franchises the Crusaders and the Hurricanes have won their bid to have the company behind Ticket Rocket liquidated.

As reported by the Stuff website, Fortress Information Systems Ltd which traded as Ticket Rocket, was not represented in the High Court of Dunedin this morning.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the Hurricanes had sought to have the company be liquidated, over a debt of $186,000, which had not been paid.

A lawyer acting on behalf of Crusaders had no objection over the liquidation, with the franchise owed $155,000, and was also seeking costs of $4000.

The teams are separate plaintiffs in a case against Ticket Rocket, formerly known as TicketDirect.

The Crusaders served the struggling Dunedin-based company on 26th June, demanding the debt be repaid or it would apply to the High Court to have it liquidated.

The Hurricanes’ court documents reveal details about the agreement between the franchise and the ticketing agent, including that money would initially be held and received on trust.

Ticket Rocket’s collapse has left many ticket holders and organisations out of pocket. As well as individual ticket holders, dissatisfied clients included the Hurricanes, the not-for-profit Nelson Youth Theatre, which faced a $15,000 loss for two productions, the Royal New Zealand Ballet and Showcase Entertainment Group.

Stuff had earlier reported that the Hurricanes had contacted police in an attempt to recover $200,000 from the company, after fans failed to secure refunds.

An advertisement in the Otago Daily Times earlier this month had promoted the sale of Ticket Rocket’s “key investment highlights”, advising of the opportunity to “acquire an established ticketing service”, which would come with ticketing software and a “skilled technical team”.

The business has been subject to a barrage of criticism since June, when people started complaining about not being able to get refunds for cancelled events.

Subsequently, Palmerston North City Council secured $676,000 of Ticket Rocket’s money frozen after an application to the High Court.

The High Court judgment, which the company wanted suppressed, noted money for the Teams' Champs superstock event in February, which draws up to 16,000 people to the city from as far as the United Kingdom, should have been paid out after the event.

However, the money still had not been paid by June.

The businesses were owned by Canadian national and longtime Dunedin resident Matthew Davey who had been a director and shareholder in the Highlanders until earlier this year.

Images: Ticket Rocket’s office in Dunedin (top) and owner Matt Davey in 2015 (below).