After fan and consumer protection complaints, Wichita’s Wind Surge drop hidden fee

After hearing negative feedback from fans, the Wichita Wind Surge has rolled back the 8% fee that was added to all sales at Riverfront Stadium at the start of the season, CEO Jordan Kobritz said Thursday.

The team dropped the fee on Tuesday, he said. The 8% hidden fee was first reported by The Eagle after getting a tip from a reader. It brought the total taxes and fees on merchandise, food, beverages and tickets to 18.26%. The additional fee at the city-owned ballpark was a surprise to elected officials and irked residents upset with high prices at the stadium.

“I think the short answer is we listened to the fans, not the ones that are on social media, but the ones at the ballpark. In other words, the fans that support us,” Kobritz said. “I don’t think it has directly hurt sales, but I think some of our folks were a bit offended … Again, we listened to them.”

The fee did not apply to online sales of the team’s merchandise.

Celeste Racette, chair of the Save Century II group, said the fee was dropped after the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office opened an investigation earlier this month into a complaint she filed with the DA’s consumer protection division, alleging the fee was hidden. Instead of taking on the cost of listing the fee on menus and other items, they decided to rightly drop the fee, she said.

“I hope that it helps them get better attendance numbers,” she said. “I hope that people will start attending the games and supporting the ball team because we (the city) have now committed financially to their success.”

Kobritz said ticket sales have been more affected by weather than by the fee. He said more than one person filed a complaint with the DA’s office, which did not force them or influence their decision to drop the fee.

The fee, he said, was meant to help the Wind Surge recapture their $10 million investment and maintain the ballpark, including technology upgrades on things like the scoreboard. He didn’t know how much it raised and wouldn’t say what the fee was projected to raise when owners added it at the beginning of the season.

An Eagle reporter who purchased items from the team store a day ahead of the April 8 season opener didn’t see any signs about the added fee. The ballpark development fee appeared only on a receipt, and the team store did not give refunds.

Kobritz said there were signs about the fee when it started in April, with more long-term plastic signage ordered. Kobritz also said it was his fault for not training staff on the fee and what it was meant to be used for.

“It wasn’t as visible as we intended it to be,” he said. “So, I am not going to agree with you that the goal was to implement it and not give notice of it. That was not the goal. That was not the intent. Was that the case on April 8? For sure, there was not sufficient signage around this building.”

Racette said she regularly attends game and never saw signs about the fee. Receipts were given only if you requested them, which kept the fee hidden, she said.

Kobritz said they have more than 70 areas where items are sold in the stadium and all of them had signs about the fee, though sometimes some would fall off and need to be replaced. He said more signage was posted than what’s required by law. And employees, he said, ask people if they want a receipt, though most people decline.

Future increases?

Kobritz said ticket and concession prices stayed the same this year despite rising costs.

He said price increases are “inevitable in every business” and that would be re-evaluated at the end of the season. Whether there would be future fees, he said: “It’s not something that we have any plans to institute at this time.”

The Wind Surge have dealt with a series of setbacks since Wichita built a stadium to lure the Triple-A team formerly known as the Baby Cakes from New Orleans.

Its inaugural season in 2020 was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team dropped from Triple-A to Double-A as part of a Minor League Baseball realignment that changed the team’s affiliation from the Miami Marlins to the Minnesota Twins.

The team’s general partner, Lou Schwechheimer, died of COVID in 2020.

The total public price tag for the stadium and development around it is more than $100 million.

The future plans for the area call for a new hotel and parking garage.

Wichita council members were surprised by the fee after it first popped up.

City Council member Jeff Blubaugh, who represents the ballpark district, said people initially thought it was a city fee. The city paid for the stadium and owns it, but all sales within the ballpark are managed by the Wind Surge.

Blubaugh said he’s happy the fee has been dropped.

“I think it’s a move in the right direction. I think that (Kobritz) and the ownership on the team is maybe starting to listen to the public,” he said. “I know they are trying to make a lot of other changes … I’m very excited and I hope it gets more people out there.”

Contributing: Chance Swaim and Matthew Kelly of The Eagle

This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 2:58 PM.