Entertainment business TEG has been forced to refund customers who bought tickets to the basketball games between Australia and the USA in Melbourne last week.
The ACCC released a statement saying it was “aware of refunds being made to consumers for the USA Basketball games … in Melbourne and Sydney on 22, 24 and 26 August”.
It comes after promotional material for the matches featured a host of high-profile NBA players not taking part in the matches, including Steph Curry and LeBron James.
The problems continued for the promoters as a number of players, including Aussie superstar Ben Simmons, pulled out as the event drew near.
For fans that chose to attend, many were treated with sub-par courtside seating which rendered it difficult to see the raised court.
Actor Russell Crowe led the backlash on social media.
$1500 a ticket for this view. AUS v USA .
Jokes on me.
If you weren’t among 50,000 there and you chose to watch it on tv at home, good decision . pic.twitter.com/VlNuXWp6iI— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) August 22, 2019
TEG, which owns ticketing service Ticketek, has been promoting the event heavily since it was announced early last year.
In one of its early media releases, company CEO Geoff Jones said: “this historic two-game series will showcase many of the world’s best players and will leave an enduring legacy for basketball in Australia”.
This article originally appeared on The Nibbler’s sister publication, B&T.
