Fortress Information Systems Ltd, trading as Ticket Rocket and formerly trading as Ticket Direct, was placed in receivership on Monday.
Three receivers have been appointed — two in Christchurch and one in Sydney.
The company was the brainchild of Canadian businessman Matthew Davey and had been based in Dunedin, where it sold tickets to events around New Zealand, for about 20 years.
It ran into trouble earlier this year as it failed to refund money for events, leading promoters to demand money.
Ticketholders were left with tickets for events that did not go ahead because of Covid-19, and they could not get refunds.
It was still advertising tickets to Mitre 10 Cup rugby matches on its website yesterday, as well as to concerts in 2021.
Attempts to find out how much money the company owed were unsuccessful yesterday. The receivers did not reply to requests for information nor to outline how many secured creditors there were.
The company sold Super Rugby tickets for at least four of the five New Zealand franchises over the past couple of seasons but those agreements came to an end earlier this year.
It was reported in June that the Hurricanes franchise was calling in the police as it tried to recover $200,000 from Ticket Rocket.
When approached yesterday, the franchise declined to comment. It is believed to be seeking legal advice.
Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge said 87 franchise members had requested refunds for season tickets.
"We have made frequent attempts to resolve this issue. However, those funds did not become available."
The Crusaders had "worked through the process of honouring those refund requests ourselves, directly with our Crusaders club members", Mr Mansbridge said.
The Chiefs did not reply to requests for comment. The Blues did not use Ticket Rocket.
The Highlanders said the firm did not owe them any money.
Ticket Rocket sold tickets to Highlanders games until March this year, when the Highlanders switched operators to Ticketek.
Dunedin Venues Management Ltd had not had any dealings with Ticket Rocket’s parent company for more than five years and was not owed any money by it.
The Otago Rugby Football Union finished with Ticket Rocket at the end of last season and was owed no money.
The Southern Steel netball team was not owed money by Ticket Rocket.
Mr Davey was the majority shareholder of the private entity that bought the licence to operate the Highlanders in late 2015.
He reduced his shareholding in the franchise earlier this year and is believed to have returned to Canada.
