A decade in, Premier Center proves with Pink, upcoming Olympic Trials that it can level up events

By John Hult and Jodi Schwan

The tour stop was more than a year in the making — until it all came to a halt.

Days before Pink was scheduled to perform in Sioux Falls, the concert was postponed and later canceled as the artist cited “reasons beyond my control.” She later posted on Instagram that she had been performing with a torn bicep and two torn menisci and would be having surgeries on her shoulder and knee.

It would have been the highest-grossing show in the 10-year history of the Denny Sanford Premier Center and was meant to serve as a celebration of its decade of success.

The concert “sold out essentially right when she went on sale,” said Doria Esche, director of marketing. “And I think that says a lot about how the market craves these large artists, these bucket list shows. So it’s really disappointing it didn’t work out, but it definitely proves that Sioux Falls deserves these large artists.”

Despite missing out on those ticket sales, 2024 still ended on a high note financially for the Denny Center Premier Center complex, which includes the Sioux Falls Convention Center and Sioux Falls Arena.

The net profit of $2.8 million was slightly ahead of 2023, with attendance totaling almost 730,000.

“So we continue to post good numbers,” said general manager Mike Krewson, crediting a combination of frugality and a strong event lineup.

This past weekend again brought a strong crowd for The Summit League Basketball Championships, and the venue hopes to hear soon whether the popular annual tournament will be returning to Sioux Falls for the 2027-29 events.

“You can’t discount the support of the community,” Krewson said.

It took almost a decade to convince the community that the time was right to invest in the 14,000-seat center, but since then, it’s almost hard to imagine how intense those battles were.

At this point, the center and what it offers Sioux Falls and the surrounding area have almost become something to take for granted.

“Before we had a new event center, we were losing all the good concerts and everything to Sioux City,” said Shawn Pritchett, finance director for the city of Sioux Falls. “Everybody was driving down to Sioux City to spend their money and to go see shows. And now, the reverse has happened.”

In addition to playing host to acts like Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, the Eagles, Snoop Dogg, multiple WWE wrestling events and a laundry list of country and classic rock acts, the center has become a consistent moneymaker for the city.

The center has returned $1 million or more in profit almost every year since 2015, save a $2.3 million loss in 2020 attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic and $800,000 in profit the year afterward. By 2022, things had turned a corner, to the tune of $2.5 million in profit. The following year set a record at $2.8 million.

“And that doesn’t even count things like hotel stays and people eating out while they’re in town,” said Krewson, who has been general manager for the past five years.

Krewson and Pritchett like the numbers, but they also both said that the live-event landscape has changed considerably since 2020. Artists are touring less and often expect more money.

A center with 12,000 seats, they say, has a hard time competing with venues in places like Omaha, which has an almost 19,000-seat events center, or with the Fargodome, which can seat 25,000 for concerts.

That’s why the single-day sellout for Pink was such a big deal. Pink’s contract is similar to that of a lot of larger pop acts. Her guaranteed fee is high, which means hitting the mark required setting a higher average ticket price than the center had ever seen: around $200.

That the tickets disappeared so quickly, Krewson said, is a data point he can use to tell other large-scale acts that a visit to Sioux Falls is worth their time, even though there are fewer seats to sell.

“This Pink story is not just a success for the one date, it’s really a success for the community,” Krewson said.

Sioux Falls also tries to stand out with customer service, he said. Live entertainment is a multibillion dollar industry, but Krewson said the number of players is relatively small – small enough that word gets around if an artist and crew have a great time.

The Premier Center brings in extra staff to help tech crews set things up, for example, and takes pains to find out if there are any ways it can make their lives easier while they’re in town.

The center also takes the common practice of personalizing the backstage area and handing out gifts to visiting acts a few steps beyond its competitors by leveraging its marketing staff’s creativity and its kitchen staff’s adaptability.

Blake Shelton, a country artist married to pop star Gwen Stefani, got a custom jean jacket with the words “Mr. Stefani” on the back. Stefani later shared a picture of her husband in the jacket on Instagram.

The Christian duo For King & Country had a s’mores bar and a friendship bracelet-making station.

When Snoop Dogg came to town, the center’s kitchen staff zeroed in on one of his recent projects, a cookbook, to offer something special.

“We wound up getting his cookbook and making some of his mom’s recipes,” Krewson said.

This past February, country artist Lauren Alaina took home a onesie bearing the Premier Center’s logo for her baby on the way.

Events ahead

The year ahead might not be an epic one on the concert front, largely because of a broader calendar.

“The industry has ebbs and flows,” Krewson said. “More shows and acts are bundling (this year) and doing stadiums because next year a lot of stadiums will be offline because of the World Cup.”

Acts such as Post Malone and Jelly Roll, which would sell out arenas such as the Premier Center, instead are doing stadium tours, he said.

“AC/DC is another one. They haven’t toured in a long time, but they’re doing stadiums,” Krewson said. “Our late third and fourth quarter, we have a lot of holes right now, and people haven’t determined, so there could be an uptick.”

Shows that have announced include Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live, Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas and Hardy’s Jim Bob World Tour.

Fittingly, Jason Aldean, who opened the center a decade ago, will perform later this year.

Beyond that, Sioux Falls will host its first Olympic Trials event when curling trials are held in November.

“The shows we do have I think are very high quality and will sell very well,” Krewson said. “We have to be frugal with what we do and tighten our belt so we can keep profitability up. In the last three years, that’s what the city has come to expect.”

Addressing age, making improvements

The city and management company Legends continue to invest in the facility, including a new social club that’s expected to open later this year.

It will take the place of a concession area on the southwest corner of the building and be designed for pre-show events, midshow entertaining or use outside of events. The capacity is 52 people, and it will have its own bar.

“It’ll be one of the nicest places in the building and probably one of the nicest spaces in the community,” Krewson said. “The city is putting a lot of effort into making it look like a speakeasy social club, so it’ll be neat.”

Challenges, of course, lie ahead for the center. Pritchett noted that the building is beginning to show its age, which he said will be addressed in the coming years through capital improvement projects. 

The center-hanging display will be replaced this summer, he said, as will the digital LED displays that encircle the center’s interior.

“None of that will come cheap,” Pritchett said.

Other things, like upgrading or replacing upholstery and countertops in private loge areas, are also in the works, alongside new food concepts.

It’s true that the hoped-for development around the center that had been pitched by then-Mayor Mike Huether, who envisioned an entertainment district sprouting up around it, never came to pass. The critics who wanted the center built downtown called it a pipe dream. 

They were right. 

In reality, Pritchett said, there was little chance of that redevelopment ever happening. To sustain an entertainment district, an area needs residences. It needs to have enough potential customers living close by to sustain businesses on days when there isn’t a show.

“Unless you have people that are living out there and have other reasons to be there, you can’t create a whole economic development area just based on concerts and conventions,” Pritchett said.

That said, Pritchett said the center has proven its worth by creating entertainment opportunities that weren’t there before in South Dakota’s largest metro area. 

For his part, Krewson can scarcely imagine Sioux Falls without it.

He wasn’t around when the center opened its doors, but he knows that before it was built, the 60-year-old, 7,000-seat Arena on the east end of the Premier Center complex was the largest venue the city had.

“Sometimes when I walk to the other side of the building, I look at it and go: ‘Oh, my God. This was it?’” Krewson said.