Will Summit League tournament return to Sioux Falls beyond 2026?

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Expect an answer on whether or not Sioux Falls will be host city for the 2027 and beyond Summit League basketball tournament “soon,” officials said this week.

“We’re just kind of going through the analysis phase now,” Summit League Commissioner Josh Fenton told KELOLAND News this week. “We will get to a resolution on that process soon.”

“The presidents (of league member universities) are all here this week, meeting in person,” said Thomas Lee, the executive director of the Sioux Falls Sports Authority. Lee said one of the agenda items is the selection of a tournament site for 2027 and beyond.

Sunday Funday for Summit League Championships

In July 2024, the Summit League announced the 2026 tournament would be held in Sioux Falls, exercising a fourth-year option as part of a three-year agreement announced in December 2022.

As part of the bid process, the Summit League “engaged a membership committee to kind of identify the priorities for the tournament and went out and sought information from various markets and venues around,” Fenton said.

The Sioux Falls Sports Authority, along with the city of Sioux Falls and Experience Sioux Falls and the PREMIER Center cooperate to develop and submit a bid to be the host city, Lee said.

“Close to eight months ago, we submitted all this information to the Summit League,” Lee said.

The Summit League shares the bids with the presidents and athletic directors at each member university, Lee said.

Bid packages are “very robust and detailed,” Lee said.

The bids include: “What the city can offer,” Lee said. Bids include any discounts at the PREMIER Center as well as features for the tournament.

Summit League Commissioner Josh Fenton. Thomas Lee, executive director of the Sioux Falls Sports Authority.

Sioux Falls has been the host site of the Summit League since 2009. But, Lee said, there are other cities bidding for the tournament.

“We’re not taking this tournament for granted,” Lee said. “We really want it here.”

Sioux Falls’ location is an advantage, Lee said, because it is at the intersection of two major interstates and less than one hour from two major in-state universities.

“We have a fan base that really shows up,” Lee said. Those aren’t just fans from South Dakota State University of the University of South Dakota, he said.

Last year, daily session attendance figures released by the league showed total attendance through the five-day tournament was 73,287, up from 57,165 in 2023 and besting the best four-day tournament record of 65,533 set in 2016. 

Basketball fans, no matter the school loyalty, show up for the tournament, Lee said.

“This is one of the biggest events in March, if not the biggest event,” Lee said. That’s another advantage for Sioux Falls, he said. He doesn’t believe other potential host sites can say the Summit League tournament is the biggest event in March.

Fenton also cited the success Sioux Falls has had in the past with the tournament.

“Ultimately we know the great experience we’ve had in Sioux falls now for many years,” Fenton said.

In a way, Sioux Falls is competing with itself as well as the other interested cities.

“How can we top ourselves,” Lee said is a focus for those who work on the city’s bid.