ELMHURST, Ill. – The Summit League has awarded its 2013 and 2014 men’s and women’s basketball championships to Sioux Falls, S.D., after approval by the league’s President’s Council during its June meeting. The upcoming 2012 Summit League Basketball Championships will mark the fourth consecutive year that Sioux Falls has hosted the event, the second of a pair of two-year agreements that began in 2009.
“The Summit League is excited about continuing its relationship with the city of Sioux Falls, the Sioux Falls Sports Authority, Sioux Falls Arena and our current corporate sponsors,” said Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple. “We have seen a substantial commitment from everyone involved in our basketball championships starting from day one and continuing through the first three years. The record level of success our championships have achieved in Sioux Falls gives our league a solid base to build upon in the years ahead.”
The Summit League Presidents Council weighed open bids to host the 2013 and 2014 championships and voted Tuesday to accept the presentation made by the Sioux Falls Sports Authority and retain the league’s premier event in South Dakota’s largest city.
Sioux Falls holds both the top three total attendance (men’s and women’s combined) figures and top three women’s tournament attendance marks in Summit League basketball history. The 2011 men’s tournament drew the league’s highest total since 1994.
The Summit League Basketball Championships in Sioux Falls have also set marks for ticket sales and corporate sponsorship and provided unprecedented television coverage with every men’s and women’s game televised by either Midco Sports Net, ESPN2 or ESPNU. The men’s and women’s championship games in 2009 marked the first time that sporting events originating from South Dakota were televised live to a national audience.
In 2014, the final year of the two-year agreement and sixth consecutive season overall, Sioux Falls will become the longest-tenured and most frequent site for the league’s basketball championships. The Summit League played five consecutive men’s championships in Springfield, Mo., from 1984-89, and the longest duration for hosting both the men’s and women’s championships was four years from 2005-08 in Tulsa, Okla.
The Summit League Basketball Championships feature the league’s top eight men’s and women’s teams with the winners receiving automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Sioux Falls Arena, the tournament venue, is a 6,500-seat facility that was built in 1961. It is home to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, an NBA Development League (D-League) team, the Sioux Falls Storm, an Indoor Football League (IFL) team, and the Sioux Falls Stampede, a United States Hockey League (USHL) team. The arena also hosts several musical and theatrical productions.
The Summit League’s 10 member schools include: IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne), IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis), UMKC (University of Missouri-Kansas City), North Dakota State University, Oakland University, Oral Roberts University, the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University, Southern Utah University and Western Illinois University. USD enters the league on July 1 and will be eligible to compete at the 2013 basketball championships.
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