Sturgis Rally Profit Up This Year

STURGIS, S.D. (AP) — Fewer people attended this year's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally than in 2013, but the city still made a hefty profit.

City Manager Daniel Ainslie says Sturgis took in $1.6 million from sponsorships, vendor fees, advertising and rent. It had expenses of about $1 million, for a profit of about $635,000. Adding in sales tax revenue, the total profit was $1.13 million.

That was up from $1.08 million in 2013, despite attendance this year being down about 5 percent to 442,200.

The Rapid City Journal reports city income from the rally has grown steadily in recent years, but Ainslie cautions that the city shouldn't get accustomed to an ever-increasing windfall from the annual event. He says attendance, vendor licenses, Mount Rushmore traffic counts and garbage volume all were down this year.

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