Professional indoor football will return to Rapid City next year.
“Every good football team needs a hero. They need a name and they need a logo. So, with the help of some of my colleagues here, I like to formally introduce the good people of Rapid City to your new arena football team. Welcome the Rapid City Marshals”
That’s Tommy Benizio. He’s the commissioner of Champions Indoor Football, or CIF. The Marshals will be the eighth team to join the CIF league.
This is not Rapid City’s first indoor football team. The Black Hills Machine first appeared in 2000. The team went through multiple name changes, ending on The Rapid City Flying Aces, which folded in 2006.
Benizio joined team co-owner Tel Koan, team general manager Nick Tomlinson, and City Council member Pat Jones at a press conference Friday.
Jones says the team could boost the local economy.
“But as people come to town, most of the time they don't just drive into town, go to the game and take off. They come into town they do a little shopping, get a little something to eat. And so the spinoff of the economic impact is tremendous. Remember, the more money that is raised of sales tax by visitors to Rapid City, the less it takes of local people who live here to come out of our pocket to help pay for the services and things that we want. It's not rocket science.”
The Marshals will start their 12-game season next March. They’ll play home games at the new Summit arena at the Monument, which is finishing up construction.