Influx of Days of '76 patrons means influx of money for Deadwood - KOTA Territory News

Influx of Days of '76 patrons means influx of money for Deadwood

The 90th annual Days of '76 wrapped up Saturday night, capping off almost a week of ropin' and ridin'.
 
Over the course of the rodeo, visitors from all corners of the country converged on Deadwood to give the highly-valued tourism industry a boost.

Just how much of a boost remains unclear.
 
"Boy, that's actually a tough one," Chris Roberts, rodeo chairman, said.

Generally speaking, he said, Days of '76 brings to town "somewhere around 30,000 people for the entire event."
 
And Roberts estimated this year's attendance was 10 percent higher than last year's.

That's a lot of people for a town of fewer than 1,300 full-time residents.
 
"It makes it really just bust at the seams," said Roberts.
 
It's hard to gauge just how much money all those people pump into the local economy, but businesses definitely see the bump.
 
"During the summer is actually a big peak period for us," said Cadillac Jack's Players' Club manager Montana Penton.
 
That's without the rodeo. With it, "They produce a pretty significant spike for us, in both hotel, mostly hotel revenue, and then coin usually here in the casino goes up quite a bit."
 
Which encourages places like the casinos to promote Days of '76.
 
"We give away Cadillac Cash for people who have, you know, the wristbands or the rodeo tickets as well," Penton said.
 
Rodeo organizers are happy to return the favor.

"Once they're here," said Roberts, "of course, we'd like to not only capture them, but let them see the entire town"

Deadwood sees another source of revenue during the rodeo as well.

Contestants often come in a few days beforehand to tour the Hills and spread a little money around.