Western South Dakota News

Pennington County spent $1,588,123 on men's collegiate football teams in 2023, an increase of 10.2% over the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

This translates to roughly 32.3% of all spending for sports teams at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the only institution in the county during the 2023 season.

The average sports expenses at Pennington County have grown 153.5% since 2010.

College football is one of the biggest sports in the U.S., with some college teams eclipsing NFL teams in terms of attendance and profit.

In 2022, after a decades-long fight, student athletes nationwide gained the right to profit from their names, likenesses, and images as a result of a flurry of new state laws and an NCAA policy change.

Year	Football Team's Expenditures	% from grand total sport team expenditures
2023	$1,588,123	32.3%
2022	$1,440,490	27.8%
2021	$1,303,689	33.8%
2020	$1,671,860	34.6%
2019	$1,515,137	33.1%