Intrust Bank Arena and several other local venues will sell its tickets through Ticketmaster going forward.
Wichita Eagle
Select-A-Seat, the ticketing agency that for 36 years has handled sales for many concerts and other performances in Wichita, is being phased out and replaced with global ticketing platform Ticketmaster.
Legends Global, which locally manages Intrust Bank Arena, the Orpheum Theatre, Century II and Andover’s Capitol Federal Amphitheater, quietly made the switch on July 1.
Tickets that originally went up for sale on Select-a-Seat will still be sold through that platform, said A.J. Boleski, the regional general manager for Intrust Bank Arena, via email. Any tickets that have gone on sale since July 1 are being sold by Ticketmaster. Tickets for the Aug. 30 John Legend concert that will signal the reopening of the renovated Orpheum Theatre, for example, were sold through Ticketmaster.
Neither Boleski nor Legend Global’s director of public relations, Meredith DeSanti, would agree to an interview about the change. Instead, the two provided nearly identical e-mailed statements. The one from Boleski read: “This business decision was reached by our management company, Legends Global, after extensive due diligence across all major ticketing providers and offers several key improvements to our customers and our venues. Ticketmaster has a proven track record, best-in-class operational capabilities, unmatched marketing reach, and experience delivering more tickets to more fans than any other provider in North America.”
Concertgoers will be able to buy Ticketmaster tickets either at www.ticketmaster.com or in person at the Intrust Bank Arena box office.
Intrust Bank Arena will be using Ticketmaster for all of its sales going forward. File photo The Wichita Eagle
Ticketmaster, which was founded in 1976, has been the industry’s largest ticket provider since 1995 and controls about 80% of the major concert venue ticket market.
The company merged with concert promoter Live Nation in 2010. Since then, the company has been at the center of several controversies and has faced lawsuits alleging that it engages in anticompetitive practices, that it tricks customers with fees and that it cooperates with scalpers to drive up resale prices. In April, a federal jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable for operating an illegal monopoly and overcharging customers. . Many celebrity performers, from Taylor Swift to Olivia Dean to Pearl Jam, have been vocally criticized the way the company handles concert ticket sales.
Heartland Credit Union Arena in Park City, the arena at the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane and the Stiefel Theatre in Salina have all used Ticketmaster for years.
Select-a-Seat was started by Sedgwick County in 1990, touted as a “new computerized ticket system” that would offer Wichitans an easier way to get tickets to several local entertainment venues, including the Kansas Coliseum and Wichita State University. The program transferred over to the arena management company when the arena opened in 2010, ending the county’s involvement, said Sedgwick County spokesperson Brandon Zenner.
The county, which owns Intrust Bank Arena, hired private management company SMG World to manage it when it opened. The management company, later renamed ASM Global, then, in 2024, Legends Global, over the years added the Orpheum, Century II and Andover’s Capitol Federal Amphitheater to the list of Wichita-area venues it manages.
Denise Neil
The Wichita Eagle
Denise Neil has covered restaurants and entertainment since 1997. Her Dining with Denise Facebook page is the go-to place for diners to get information about local restaurants. She’s a regular judge at local food competitions and speaks to groups all over Wichita about dining.
