SDHSAA state basketball tournament to returns to Sioux Falls in 2027

There won’t be any South Dakota high school state basketball championships in Sioux Falls in 2026, breaking a 65-year run of South Dakota’s largest city hosting one of the state’s premier high school sporting events. 

The Class AA and A boys tournaments will be in Rapid City at The Monument, with the AA boys in the ice arena and the A boys in Summit Arena from March 19 to 21. The Class B boys will still be at the Barnett Center in Aberdeen on the same dates. 

The AA girls will also be at Summit Arena at The Monument in Rapid City on March 12 to 14, the Class A girls will be at the Watertown Civic Arena and the Class B girls will be at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings. 

The South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) updates its website to reflect the next year’s state tournament schedule, but the organization knew well in advance that Sioux Falls would be without a championship in 2026. 

SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos, Ed. D., said the Denny Sanford Premier Center is the only venue in Sioux Falls that can hold 5,000 to 7,000 people for a basketball tournament. With a couple of extra events booked for 2026 and an existing contract with the Sioux Falls Stampede requiring Friday and Saturday nights to be saved, that squeezed out the high school state tournaments. 

“March of 2026 is a unique year because we were awarded two NCAA events – D2 wrestling and also the NCAA (Division I) hockey regionals,” said Denny Sanford Premier Center General Manager Mike Krewson. “That has never happened in the history of the city before.” 

The Summit League tournament is also scheduled for the first week of March. The Summit League is scheduled to be at the Premier Center through 2029, and the center is holding dates beyond in case of a contract renewal. 

Swartos said this situation will also arise in 2028, and the success of the 2026 state tournaments will help determine the final plan for 2028. If this Rapid City experiment works out, that can be back on the table. 

“We might have an opportunity to have some more casual fans out in Rapid City,” Swartos said. “For the people who are there, if they want to bop between venues for different games throughout the tournament, they’d be allowed to do that and see both classes at the same time.” 

Swartos is also considering working with South Dakota State University to get First Bank & Trust Arena and the University of South Dakota for the Sanford Coyote Sports Center, but other logistical challenges arise from there. 

The Premier Center is working with the City of Sioux Falls to diversify its events, including concerts, shows and sporting events, but sometimes there are just not enough weeks in a given month or year. 

March is especially difficult for scheduling, with the Stampede’s season coming to a close, high school state tournaments taking place and NCAA winter sports seasons ending. That’s a lot of opportunities for the Premier Center to showcase Sioux Falls both in person and on broadcasts.  

“Different events reach different people,” Krewson said. “We try to schedule in everything we can and be accommodating, but sometimes there’s not enough weeks in the month. Especially March, which is our busiest.” 

The City of Sioux Falls benefits from some of the Premier Center events in more ways than getting people in town. Krewson recalled a curling event that was broadcast on Peacock and NBC Sports that included a promotional package for Sioux Falls that would have cost over $1 million if it were purchased. 

“We look at it as revenue, exposure for the community, how is it going to do for tourism, those types of things,” Krewson said. 

Krewson noted that the city bids on the NCAA events, then lets him and other Premier Center officials know, so the dates could be saved.  

Both parties, the SDHSAA and the Premier Center, will continue their partnership in 2027 and beyond, with the AA boys basketball state tournament in Sioux Falls in 2027. The A boys will be in town in 2029, the AA boys will be back in 2030 and there are requests out for 2031.