Features
Sioux City Facing Competition
The nearly 10-year-old Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, is in danger of being edged out of the market with the recent opening of the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb., and the upcoming debut of the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.
SMG will run both the Pinnacle and the Sanford arenas and officials expect the venues – situated about 150 miles apart – will team up to attract artists.
“It’s smart business practice to create those sort of alliances, and SMG can make that happen,” Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether told the Sioux City Journal. “When they’re evaluating an act, they can get a two-for-one deal with two incredibly hungry and profitable markets like Lincoln and Sioux Falls.”
Photo: AP Photo / The Argus Leader, Jay Pickthorn
on the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.
But what’s good for those markets could be a blow to Sioux City, according to city Mayor Bob Scott.
Scott told the paper “if you’re going to do a concert in Lincoln, there’s going to be a real synergy to go to Sioux Falls and bypass us.”
Size could also play a factor in future decisions to skip Sioux City.
While Tyson Events Center features a 10,100 capacity, Pinnacle Bank Arena can accommodate 15,500 people and the under-construction Denny Sanford Premier Center will reportedly seat around 13,000.
Sioux City leaders are on the hunt for a new director of the events department in order to help keep the Tyson Center competitive.
“I think we have to hit the ground running,” Bruce Miller, chairman of the board that oversees events and facilities, told the paper. “When you’re a shiny new toy, people want to see it. There’s also a place for us, and we have to make sure we keep our foothold.”