2026 Summit League Basketball Championships: All-Session Ticket Update

[rundrave]

got an email about this last night:

Dear Summit League Fan,



We hope this message finds you well! As a valued all-session ticket holder to this year’s tournament, we want to take a moment to thank you for your continued support of the Summit League Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. We truly appreciate your patronage and enthusiasm for the event, especially those who attend all the games throughout the tournament, and we are thrilled to have you with us as part of the tournament community.



Knowing many of you look forward to this event each year, we want to share an update regarding all-session tickets for the 2026 Summit League Basketball Championships.



Since the tournament moved to Sioux Falls in 2009, the all-session ticket buying process has evolved several times. Knowing that the League is here to serve our members, the all-session ticket purchasing process for 2026 will undergo some changes to allow for expanded access to our nine institutions. These changes will allow each institution the opportunity to purchase tickets across all price points, providing a more inclusive experience for fans from all participating schools.



While the exact details of these changes have not yet been finalized, the League and our member institutions will be providing more information in the coming months to ensure you have all the details you need for a smooth and enjoyable experience. We appreciate your understanding as we work to improve the tournament experience for all fans.



In the meantime, we look forward to a fantastic tournament and can’t wait to see you there!



Thank you again for your support. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.



Best regards,

The Summit League

Have a feeling I am not going to be happy about this. There was plenty of opportunity for ANYONE to grab tickets after they restructured this a couple years ago.

[GoJacks2011]

They are doing everything they can to ruin this tournament! I'll be using my friends who are alums of other schools in the league that don't care about basketball to get tickets if I have to.

If anyone is in Sioux Falls, I think the Summit League Commissioner is speaking today at noon at Pizza Ranch at the Staters even. We need to press him, Dunn, and Sell to figure out why they'd make a stupid decision like this.

[peavy]

They are doing everything they can to ruin this tournament! I'll be using my friends who are alums of other schools in the league that don't care about basketball to get tickets if I have to.

If anyone is in Sioux Falls, I think the Summit League Commissioner is speaking today at noon at Pizza Ranch at the Staters even. We need to press him, Dunn, and Sell to figure out why they'd make a stupid decision like this.

If anyone goes and has the ability to, ask about the Big/Sky Summit League tournament. At first I was excited about the notion of adding 2 teams so SDSU wouldn't have to play lesser teams. Oral Roberts and USD went up against the top 2 teams this year (Montana State- NET 55 & NAU - NET 90). SDSU played an EWU (NET 214) team predicted to finish 8/11 at the start of the year, and Montana (NET 205) was predicted to finish 3rd.

If SDSU (W) isn't playing the top 2 teams each year, these aren't helping the team's resume. Montana is 6th in the standings, NAU is 8th.
Last year, SDSU played NAU which finished 2nd, and Montana State which finished tied for 4th. Preseason poll had NAU/EWU as nearly identical at 1 & 2, Montana 3rd, MSU 4th. Final Standings were 1) EWU, 2) NAU, 3) Montana 4) MSU

I guess it looks like they tried, but it just didn't work out as expected. Oddly enough, if we played last year's BS teams this year, and this year's BS teams last year, SDSU is better off. Matchups announced May 2023, and August 2024. There is one more year of this challenge.

[2002jack]

They are doing everything they can to ruin this tournament! I'll be using my friends who are alums of other schools in the league that don't care about basketball to get tickets if I have to.

If anyone is in Sioux Falls, I think the Summit League Commissioner is speaking today at noon at Pizza Ranch at the Staters even. We need to press him, Dunn, and Sell to figure out why they'd make a stupid decision like this.

Why are they doing this? They keep screwing the fans that enjoy attending the Summit League tourney. Price gouging and now this. They will feel the pain soon enough and it will be moved to Tulsa.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[filbert]

Time to start inquiring about that Mountain West membership? I hear Vegas is nice this time of year.

(Only joking a little bit...I think...)

Who knows? A miracle might happen and they might actually improve the process. Yeah, I know, but a guy can hope.

[2002jack]

Time to start inquiring about that Mountain West membership? I hear Vegas is nice this time of year.

(Only joking a little bit...I think...)

Who knows? A miracle might happen and they might actually improve the process. Yeah, I know, but a guy can hope.

Well there are two scenarios I envision in my feeble mind.

1) The Summit went around the to appease other schools

Or

2) SDSU embraced this plan so they can give preference to larger donors.

Both upset me, but I will move on for now. I will now take a wait and see approach, but I have doubts. We shall see.

[OldHare]

It will be interesting to count the Omaha & St Thomas fans this year. There are 2 teams that are close enough to Sioux Falls to make the trip for top seeded teams. The Tommies had good attendance during the regular season considering the small gym. The Mavs were averaging 2600 for the season which may translate to some travel. However the early ticket purchase needs to be completed before the OOC is completed. Walk up ticket purchase normally has less desirable seating. Appeasement is not a bad thing, but how much do you bend over to entice new purchases and not alienate the regular customers? Also, if the Utah schools arrive, will there be a special window be open for those teams who may not be top seeds with high interest?

[West-River_Jack]

I have been thinking about the Wednesday through Sunday format. We started with nine teams in the women's bracket and nine teams in the men's bracket. By the end of Friday's games we will be down to four men's teams and four women's teams. Over half will have already gone home. At least one university will have been totally eliminated from the tournament.

For those who have jobs or school age children, or whatever other reason to not arrive until the weekend, is there still motivation to buy all sessions tickets? Even highly seeded teams are sometimes defeated in the first round. I recall all too well a number one seed losing to the eight seed in the men's bracket a few years ago.

Is your answer still the same if the tournament is moved at least three hours away starting in 2027? How about if it is moved far enough that flights become involved?

I am retired. Days of the week no longer matter to me.

[rundrave]

the all-session ticket purchasing process for 2026 will undergo some changes to allow for expanded access to our nine institutions.

is there any value in going and at least swiping tickets for the men's game tonight? Will it even net anything in regards to keeping all session passes for 2026?

I will be at the women's games this afternoon but I am having a hard time trying to make an effort to go the men's game tonight. Have had my lower bowl seats listed on secondary market since last night and it appears I cant even give them away

I am local so wont have a hard time just walking in swiping and turning right around and walking out, but the effort could be for nothing

[goon]

Had free tickets to the game. My niece plays in the Omaha pep band so that was reason enough for me to cheer. Plus st Thomas has the most unlikeable players in the league. Frankly if sdsu fans what to show reason to keep the tourney in SF we should attend games sdsu isnt in to create a better atmosphere. Frankly the league only cares about money so unless Warren Buffet what's to drop some money to bring to Omaha it's going to be hard for other cities to match I think.

[jakejc795]

Had free tickets to the game. My niece plays in the Omaha pep band so that was reason enough for me to cheer. Plus st Thomas has the most unlikeable players in the league. Frankly if sdsu fans what to show reason to keep the tourney in SF we should attend games sdsu isnt in to create a better atmosphere. Frankly the league only cares about money so unless Warren Buffet what's to drop some money to bring to Omaha it's going to be hard for other cities to match I think.

The March 9th Happy Hour seemed to agree that the announcement of an extension in Sioux Falls was nigh. That makes the ticket changes seem like a strategy to try to placate other teams while maintaining site stability.

[6-4-3 Jackrabbit]

I did a little math tonight.
Omaha - I assume the league is considering Baxter Arena? Capacity 7898. I believe the Summit League runs 9 sessions for the tournament. I could be wrong and please correct me if I am.
1 session - Wednesday
2 sessions - Thursday - Sunday.

63,416 attended the tournament this year at The Denny. The max capacity Baxter could hold for the entire tournament is 71,082. For Omaha to match what SF did this year Baxter would have to sell 89% of their tickets for ALL sessions. Compared to Sioux Falls selling 58.7% (63416/108000) of all the tickets available for the entire tournament. For the record Mr Fenton, the two highest attended sessions were Friday night and Sunday afternoon & almost 7600 tickets were sold for the men’s championship. Good luck Summit League if you decided Omaha is a better option. I won’t even get into the other communities.

Go Rabbits!

[bigticket1]

I did a little math tonight.
Omaha - I assume the league is considering Baxter Arena? Capacity 7898. I believe the Summit League runs 9 sessions for the tournament. I could be wrong and please correct me if I am.
1 session - Wednesday
2 sessions - Thursday - Sunday.

63,416 attended the tournament this year at The Denny. The max capacity Baxter could hold for the entire tournament is 71,082. For Omaha to match what SF did this year Baxter would have to sell 89% of their tickets for ALL sessions. Compared to Sioux Falls selling 58.7% (63416/108000) of all the tickets available for the entire tournament. For the record Mr Fenton, the two highest attended sessions were Friday night and Sunday afternoon & almost 7600 tickets were sold for the men’s championship. Good luck Summit League if you decided Omaha is a better option. I won’t even get into the other communities.

Go Rabbits!

I don't think that the tournament can be played in anyone's home arena.

[jakejc795]

I don't think that the tournament can be played in anyone's home arena.

I wonder if CHI Health Center would be option, notwithstanding potential Creighton scheduling conflicts. MSP might be a more viable option.

[OldHare]

The March 9th Happy Hour seemed to agree that the announcement of an extension in Sioux Falls was nigh. That makes the ticket changes seem like a strategy to try to placate other teams while maintaining site stability.

This seems to be a reasonable assumption as the income generated is significant. It would be insane to believe a change would be considered without similar dollars in a bid. Minneapolis(less centered geographically) may have contacts through St Thomas to attract the cash and maybe crowd to look for a venue to compete with Sioux Falls. The Denny Sanford Premier Center and Sioux Falls Sports people have set a high bar for the competition for the SLT. Accepting less by Fenton and board might be a new definition for stupid.