PIERRE — Early results of a study underway by the South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) indicate state tournaments and other statewide extracurricular events generate more than a million dollars in economic impact for host communities.
SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos told SDHSAA members this week that a recently commissioned study, meant to show the economic worth of state events and perhaps convince local businesses to lower costs for hotel rooms and food, is backing up what the board has long known — if only anecdotally.
Swartos said the association often finds itself competing with other events for the use of venues and that the study may help the association prove, as he said, “that we might not be as flashy, but we have value, too.”
According to data collected from 20 state events, those events generated $14.3 million in direct spending from families in attendance. As the money flows through the community, Swartos said, its second- and third-hand effects result in an output of just over $26 million.
The direct spending by families attending state events led to $2.9 million in tax revenue for the host communities. The events in the data collected so far took place in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Harrisburg, Brandon, Pierre, Watertown, Brookings and Aberdeen.
The data collected on the economic impact of state events does not include spending by the teams themselves or the association. That spending includes hotel rooms and food for players, coaches, staff and officials, as well as facility rent.
In November 2023, SDHSAA entered into a contract with IMPLAN of Huntersville, North Carolina, to help with the economic impact study. To save on costs, much of the data collection was done by SDHSAA staff.
Swartos said the association sent emails to schools that participated in the tournaments. The schools then forwarded those emails to parents, who responded to a survey about how much they spent on hotels, food and shopping during the event. Swartos noted that the data was reliant on how well parents responded to the survey, with the number of responses varying by event.
