SIOUX FALLS, SD (Dakota News Now) – High school fall activities are starting to wrap up across the state with state championships coming soon for football, volleyball and fine arts.

The state activities association was also eager for them to finish as they wrap up a study on how high school events affect South Dakota.

Communities have long known that when an SDHSAA state event came to their town, the money followed. The state’s high school activities association is working to figure out exactly how much it is and what that means for the economic impact.

How much economic impact do high school events have in South Dakota? This is what the state’s activities association is trying to answer.

Executive Director Dan Swartos said since early last winter, they’ve been working to figure that out by looking at what state events do for communities.

“We went through all our winter events. I started volleyball last year, then volleyball until the end of last school year. We are now wrapping up this year’s fall events,” Swartos said.

So far, Swartos said the winter and spring events have made about $14 million in direct contributions to local economies, with a total economic impact of more than $6 million.

This also generated nearly $3 million in local tax revenue, supporting more than 200 jobs.

This is determined by surveying attendees at state events and finding out how much they spend.

“We polled parents and fans after the state events, just trying to get an idea of ​​their round trip mileage. How much they spent on hotels, how much they spent on food and how much they spent on shopping,” Swartos said.

Swartos said they’re still waiting to see what this year’s fall events will bring, but that will wrap up their study. He said while high school state events may not be big or flashy to host, they make an annual impact on the state.

“I think it’s important for us to have this data to show that, yes, we may not be a big-name concert or an NCAA event. But these are South Dakotans who come to those events and that’s what they give to your communities,” Swartos explained.

One interesting thing to take away from hearing about these numbers is that the South Dakota high school meet will be held in Sioux Falls in the near future.

That’s because member schools voted to have an all-in-one location with three events, and Swartos said Sioux Falls is currently the only city with enough lodging to host it.

That means the state’s most-attended event is here to stay at least in the short term, bringing an economic boost.

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