🏅Great Falls bids to host Ironman for three summers, starting in 2027

The Great Falls Tourism Business Improvement District wants to bring Ironman here on Aug. 15, 2027, Aug. 13, 2028 and Aug. 12, 2029. City commissioners were set to take up a support agreement with the TBID at their Oct. 6 meeting.

The deal sets a three-year framework for planning the races and repaying the city. It does not approve a course, road closures, permits or the use of city property or staff, and the TBID pays back the city's actual costs for each race.

Great Falls Montana Tourism would pay the license fee and the other costs, so local agencies pay nothing, director Rebecca Engum told The Electric. Its partners include the Montana Department of Transportation, Cascade County, Teton County, Fairfield, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the Montana Highway Patrol.

Approval would not guarantee a race, Engum said, because many details are still being worked out. Coeur d'Alene hosts an Ironman too, and Engum said Great Falls has more hotel rooms than the lake town.