LNIs economic impact on Rapid City [Video]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The Lakota Nation Invitational is back in Rapid City this week, and along with it are dozens of schools, parents and spectators.

Now, in its 47th year, LNI has grown immensely since its inception. What started as a sports tournament has come to include things like Academic and Knowledge Bowls, Hand Game Tournaments, art shows and more. With the tournament drawing more competitors and spectators each year its economic impact on Rapid City increases with it.

“Lakota Nation has a serious economic impact on the Rapid City business community. I think they’ve come to appreciate that fact, and we’ve been welcomed here in the city recently very strongly,” Lakota Nation Invitational Vice President Robert Braveheart Jr. said.

According to Rapid City Sports CommissionExecutive Director Domico Rodriguez, the tournament has a direct spending impact of $3.3 million to Rapid City since 2022. Much of that is a result of hotels being booked and local vendors taking …