Brewers Undo Sales Tax on ‘Free’ Hot Dog Promotion

Brewers fans are relishing their small victory.

Earlier this month, the team unveiled a new promotion in which fans could join a “Hot Dog Club” for $59.99 in exchange for a special hat and a free hot dog at each game they attend at American Family Field. 

However, at least one fan noticed the club came with an unwelcome “catch.” 

Enter Jake Starck, a 33-year-old die-hard Brewers fan from the Milwaukee area who goes to about 40 to 60 games per year. Starck, who noted with pride on his X/Twitter profile that he has caught 33 in-game home run balls in his illustrious career in the bleachers, was charged 63 cents in sales tax for his “free” dog. 

“Hey @Brewers why do i have to pay almost a dollar in tax ON MY FREE HOT DOG?” Starck asked incredulously in a tweet that has garnered nearly 130,000 impressions. 

The issue was quickly corrected. Starck noted in a follow-up tweet that he was not charged the sales tax again.

“We were made aware of the sales tax issue during Friday’s Hot Dog Club launch,” the Brewers’ official account tweeted Tuesday. “We have since implemented a fix to ensure sales tax is not charged to Hot Dog Club members upon redemption.”

Brewers COO Marti Wronski tells Front Office Sports that there was a “glitch” in their concessionaire’s system, and that they corrected the issue before the first pitch of the first game in the promotion on Friday.

Wronski says that about 600 people have joined the club, and that about 120 of them were impacted during the glitch. She adds that the people who were mistakenly charged the sales tax will be offered two free tickets to an upcoming game. 

Wronski says she expects the Brewers will lose money in aggregate on the promotion, but they’ll have kitschy, attention-grabbing elements later in the season including a special on-field ceremony for Hot Dog Club members and a plan to name a “top dog” for the person(s) who takes advantage of the most free hot dogs this year.  

Starck, meanwhile, is happy if he played a role in correcting the injustice. 

“I’m very glad if my little bit helped bring some light onto the subject,” he told FOS.