THE same company that owns the massive Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney recently acquired a majority stake in travel start-up Fan+, a specialist in organising personalised travel experiences for fans of sports stars and celebrities.
Ticketing company TEG made the bold move to purchase a 51% portion of the business for an undisclosed amount, a brand that had already garnered a fair amount of attention through being backed by hotel mogul Dr Jerry Schwartz and Helloworld Travel CEO Andrew Burnes.
The purchase will see he integration of Fan+ with TEG’s ticketing arm Ticketek from next year, offering fans of live events the option of adding personalised experiences to their transactions, such as backstage tours, seats at pre-show sound checks, attending a production’s opening night launch party, or even tossing the coin at a customer’s favourite team’s sporting match.
“At TEG, we believe nothing beats the live experience and to be able to personalise that live experience with a FAN+ moment is the perfect extension of our offering,” CEO Geoff Jones said.
Fan+ CEO, Rod Harys, added that his company joining TEG would enable the business to scale its offerings globally.
“To have the backing of TEG, the scale of Ticketek and leadership of Geoff Jones is a game-changer for FAN+,” Harys said.
“Being a part of the TEG family means we can scale our offering in terms of audience reach and access some pretty mind-blowing personalised entertainment options – fans are in for some pretty special moments,” he added.
Other investors in Fan+ already include Seven West Media CEO James Warburton, three-time Olympian and Hoyts CEO Damian Keogh, Founder of Pacific Equity Partners Rickard Gardell, and Australian Olympic Committee Director Craig Carracher.
