Civic centers and arenas across South Dakota suffered significant financial losses during the COVID-19 pandemic but are seeing indicators of the potential for a return to profitability.
Auditoriums sat empty for a few months or more in the early days of the pandemic in early 2020, and bookings remained slow and event attendance was down through the rest of the year and into 2021.
Event cancellations or lost new business resulted from a desire by arena operators to be safe and by hesitancy of groups to gather indoors during the pandemic.
Operators had to reimburse thousands of dollars in pre-paid rents, lost money due to a drop in new business and saw unexpected expenses to provide social distancing and personal protective equipment.