Wichita Wind Surge owners agree to donate hidden-fee proceeds to local charities

Owners of Wichita’s minor league baseball team have agreed to donate $63,000 to local charities before Christmas to end a consumer protection investigation into hidden fees at Riverfront Stadium.

The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office began investigating the Wichita Wind Surge after a local activist filed a consumer protection complaint over a hidden 8% “ballpark development fee” the team tacked on to every sale at the stadium, without disclosing it to customers, for the first two months of the season.

The donations will be equally divided among six local charities selected by the Wind Surge baseball team: Kansas Society for Children with Challenges, Equity Initiative, ICT Food Rescue, The Women’s Network, T.O.U.C.H. Closet, and Youth Educational Empowerment Program.

Celeste Racette — founder of Save Century II, an activist group organized around blocking the city from demolishing its performing arts and convention center that has broadened its focus on general accountability at City Hall — filed a complaint in May alleging “false advertising” by the team because it did not have signs notifying customers of the added 8% fee.

Jason P. Roach, chief attorney in the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s consumer protection division, notified Racette on Tuesday that the team dropped the fee in May after his office issued a cease and desist letter.

“We further demanded they provide the total amount of funds collected by the fee and disgorge it back to consumers,” Roach wrote to Racette in an e-mail, which she shared with The Eagle. “The total was approximately $63,000.”

But identifying and refunding consumers directly “was complicated for a number of reasons,” Roach said.

“However, as a compromise they (the Wind Surge) have assured our office the proceeds will be split evenly between six local charities before Christmas as a donation,” Roach wrote. “It is our hope those funds will be put to good use to assist the citizens of Sedgwick County in the year ahead. Upon verification of the payments, we intend to close the investigation without litigation.”

Wind Surge CEO Jordan Kobritz said the team’s ownership made a mistake. But he said they did not intend to violate any rules or laws.

“It was, for lack of a better phrase, an innocent mistake, but a mistake nonetheless,” Kobritz said of the hidden fee.

The Wind Surge will distribute the $63,000 in donations next week, he said.

The hidden fee was one of several controversies surrounding Wichita’s minor league team, which agreed to relocate from New Orleans only if the City Council agreed to build a new ballpark and sell the team owners 4.5 acres of riverfront property for $1 an acre.

Development around the stadium is critical to paying for the stadium — but it appears to have stalled. If it doesn’t materialize, the city will likely be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in bond payments to pay for the $75 million stadium. The City Council has approved more than $100 million in public funds to support the stadium district.

After the stadium was completed, what was supposed to Wichita’s Triple-A baseball team’s inaugural season — 2020 — turned into a disaster. The season was canceled. One of the team’s owners and general manager Lou Schwechheimer died after a battle with COVID-19 And Minor League Baseball demoted the team to Double A.

Despite the off-the-field controversies, the Wind Surge has been fairly successful at winning baseball games in its first two seasons, reaching the Texas League championship both years. The team is looking to build on that success next year under new ownership.

Major League Baseball on Monday approved a sale of the team from the current ownership group to Diamond Baseball Holdings, a group that owns 10 baseball teams. Kobritz — who was left to run the team and deliver on promises made by his longtime friend and business partner Schwechheimer — will no longer be CEO but will retain partial ownership of land surrounding the stadium.

“They got off on the wrong footing in many ways, in many aspects,” Racette said of the Wind Surge in a phone interview. “And this was one thing they did that really didn’t settle well with baseball fans in Wichita.”

Racette said she is happy with the outcome but disappointed that the county — not the city, which owns the stadium and leases it to the Wind Surge — had to take action to stop the hidden fee.

“It’s fair,” Racette said. “I think it’s wonderful that my complaint worked, and I have no problem with this money going to six local charities before Christmas as a donation to people who need it the most. I don’t think anyone should complain about the way they’re handling the refunds.”

“Merry Christmas, Wichita,” Racette said. “The power of the consumers and a strong local paper came through on this one.”

The Wichita Eagle first reported on the hidden fee on April 7, the day before the Wind Surge home opener at Riverfront Stadium.

Kobritz defended the fee at the time, saying it was an attempt to recoup the team’s investment in the stadium and to pay for future development around the stadium. He later said pushback from fans led to the decision to end the fee.

Now, he says he hopes the donation “puts the cap on that issue.”

“I think this is a very good end to a chapter that probably should never have happened to begin with,” Kobritz said. “And it ends up benefiting the community here, which is always a good thing.”

This story was originally published December 6, 2022 at 7:49 PM.