With a month to go until opener, Wichita Wind Surge’s new downtown stadium has a name
After months of waiting, Wichita’s new downtown baseball stadium finally has a name.
The Wichita Wind Surge will play at Riverfront Stadium, owner Lou Schwechheimer told The Eagle. The stadium sits on the west bank of the Arkansas River along McLean Boulevard.
“The Wichita Wind Surge and the City of Wichita have been working closely for the past 13 months to design and build a state-of-the-art riverfront stadium,” Schwechheimer wrote in an email. “We are pleased that we remain on time and on budget for opening day, April 14.
“In choosing the name, ‘Riverfront Stadium,’ we celebrate the future of the west bank of the Arkansas River as a gathering place for Wichitans and visitors from all of Kansas and the surrounding region.”
The stadium does not have a title sponsor yet, but those negotiations are ongoing, and the Wind Surge is still taking interest, said Scot Rigby, Wichita assistant city manager and director of development services, told the Eagle. “Riverfront Stadium,” is a placeholder until a contract is reached with a partner.
The Wind Surge focused on nailing down in-stadium naming partners like Emprise Bank, Fidelity Bank, Credit Union of America and Dillons, Schwechheimer told the Eagle.
“The focus is on broad community support vs. a home run for a naming sponsor,” Rigby told the Eagle. “... I think there are a lot of people who are going to come to a game and say, ‘OK, now I see the value of doing the naming rights. I wasn’t sure at first, but now that I’ve been to the game and I’ve seen all that this stadium has to offer, this is something my company needs to be a part of.’ ”
Rigby said the Wind Surge has led the charge on naming-rights contracts, and the city negotiated a split with the team to pull in $250,000 when a partner is reached for the stadium.
The stadium features 10,025-seat capacity, a party deck, a baseball museum and 12 suites.
The Wind Surge is the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball. Formerly known as the Baby Cakes before relocating here from New Orleans, the Wind Surge is replacing the Wichita Wingnuts at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in downtown Wichita.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 2:09 PM with the headline "With a month to go until opener, Wichita Wind Surge’s new downtown stadium has a name."