SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Football season has officially kicked off for universities in South Dakota with a new $41 million stadium at Dakota State University and record-breaking student attendance numbers at the University of South Dakota (USD).
Officials from multiple universities in South Dakota have seen an upward trend of game attendance for football over the past few years. USD’s associate athletic director for fan engagement, Jarren Duffy, attributed the increase to game-day experiences and the football team’s recent wins.
“I think our fans are getting more and more behind our athletic programs as we become more established in the division one era,” Duffy said. “I think there’s a lot of potential within our fan base. There’s a lot of alums who live in the area that are coming out to games more and more often.”
USD’s first home game was on August 29 against Northern State University (NSU). Duffy said
there were over 2,400 students at the game, which is a new student attendance record for football. Attendance for the game was 7,435, which is 1,300 higher than the first home game in 2023.
“(This year) it was the first ever blackout game, so we encourage fans to wear black to the game,” Duffy said. “The football team wore black jerseys for the first time in program history. The Thursday night game is also something that we haven’t done in the past as well.”
USD’s homecoming game is on October 12 against the University of Northern Iowa. The DakotaDome’s capacity is 9,100 people.
South Dakota State University had its first home game on September 7, with an attendance of 19,321. According to the SDSU Jackrabbits social media, 4,128 of those attendees were students. SDSU’s homecoming game is also on October 12 against Youngstown State.
Dakota State University had its first game in the new $41 million Beacom PREMIER Complex and Brian Kern Family Stadium on August 29. Nick Huntimer, DSU’s sports information director, said the stadium was nearly sold out for the first game. The venue’s capacity is 2,533.
“The crowd was terrific for our Ag Bowl on Aug. 29,” Huntimer said in an email to KELOLAND News. “Not only did our home Trojan fans show up, but the visiting team also packed the visitors’ bleachers along with portable bleachers that we brought in. I would expect a lot of the same on [Sept. 14] as far as attendance and excitement for our homecoming football game with Jamestown.”
DSU’s attendance records for the last few years are not available on the athletics website. Huntimer did say the old venue, Dan Beacom Track Complex, had the capacity for 1,000-1,500 attendees.
Northern State University’s Associate Athletic Director Ashley Gauer said it can be difficult to calculate attendance growth over the years because the school just got a new stadium on campus in 2021.
However, the first game attendance at the Dacotah Bank Stadium has increased since 2022. Gauer attributes the rise to an increased game day experience with the new stadium.
“We had really good attendance for the home opener,” she said. “We were getting a lot of people reaching out the day of and the day before on how to buy single-game tickets. So I think we got a lot more walk-up sales than maybe we have in the past.”
The capacity at the Dacotah Bank Stadium is around 7,000 people, which includes roughly 3,000 spots for standing room only, Gauer said.
