MISSOULA — It was a banner year for the all-class state wrestling tournaments but a lackluster performance for state basketball, according to the financial reports obtained by MTN Sports for the Montana High School Association's winter sports postseason events.
The good news for the MHSA: The reports show the state wrestling tournaments at First Interstate Arena in Billings generated a profit of $90,070.12, a substantial increase over the $77,530.05 earned last year and the $77,210.73 made in 2024.
The state wrestling tournaments totaled $165,319.00 in gross ticket sales, a record-high for the event. Wrestling is the fastest-growing boys and girls sport in Montana, and the 2026 tournaments, which took place Feb. 19-21, had travel-friendly weather.
Each of the divisional and seeding tournaments also turned profits ranging from $3,318.40 at the Eastern AA in Belgrade to $12,112.20 at the Western B/C in Butte.
On the flip side, the state basketball tournaments dealt with challenging weather conditions and, per the data, only two tournaments turned a profit in 2026. The combined Class AA boys and girls tournaments in Billings profited $33,533.72, and the combined Class B tourneys in Bozeman made $65,272.16.
The Class A tournaments in Great Falls lost $14,286.76 and the Class C tournaments in Missoula lost $24,115.22.
View the 2025-26 report summaries: Basketball | Wrestling | Swimming
It's a far cry from just two years ago when the MHSA had record-breaking viewership — whether in person or online via NFHS Network feeds — of the 2024 state basketball tournaments. That year, the Class B tournaments generated a profit of $107,807.80, followed by the Class AA tournaments at $79,114.33, the Class C tournaments at $52,316.78 and the Class A tournaments at $43,337.71.
All four state basketball tourneys recorded profits in 2025, as well.
This winter, the Class A and C tournaments had higher-than-usual expenses but also lower gross income, which is entirely made up of ticket sales. Burdens include facilities and administrative expenses, costs for referees and team travel.
According to the reports, the Class A tournaments recorded $61,567.00 in ticket sales, while the Class C tourneys had $66,733.00. Class C, especially, had onerous travel. Teams like Scobey, Lustre Christian, Circle, Melstone, Winnett-Grass Range, Roy-Winifred and Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine had long road trips to Missoula, which poses geographic challenges for a large portion of Class C teams and their fans.
Of all the postseason basketball tournaments, including district and divisional tournaments, only one Class C tournament — the District 8C tourney at Great Falls — finished in the black. It made $6,609.21, which was redistributed to the district's 11 teams. Every other Class C district and divisional tournament lost money, ranging from $26.20 at the District 9C tourney to $23,113.00 at the Western C.
Class B fared only slightly better. The Southern B, which annually ranks among the most profitable basketball tournaments in the state, turned a profit of $49,669.95. The District 3B ($10,907.22) and District 5B ($6,595.04) tournaments also made money. The other Class B district and divisional tournaments finished in the red. The 7B did not have a district tournament in 2026.
Both Class A divisional tournaments made money — the Eastern A at $34,482.84 and Western A at $12,478.00 — and all the Class AA playoff games were positive, as well.
As is typical, the state swim meet in Great Falls broke even in 2026. The meet drew $10,824.00 in gross receipts with $8,341.36 going back to the schools and $2,482.64 covering expenses, according to the reports.
All profits are distributed back to member schools.
