[5] This could include half-mile track racing (the first year in Sturgis, there were 19 participants), intentional board wall crashes, ramp jumps and head-on collisions with automobiles.

In 1942, the decision was made by the Black Hills Motor Classic Committee to not hold their regular event until after the war was over.

Additional events would be held in the downtown district of Sturgis, including parades, dances, and animal shows.

In their ruling, the Court stated that the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a pluralistic endeavor promoted by multiple organizations.

[36] The City of Sturgis has calculated that the Rally brings over $800 million to South Dakota annually.

[40] Rally-goers are a mix of white-collar and blue-collar workers and are generally welcomed as an important source of income for Sturgis and surrounding areas.

[42] Furthermore, the large numbers of people visiting the town and region served as a model for the state of Oregon in preparation for the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, given the expected impact on emergency services.

While some health officials and local leaders wanted to cancel the rally, that proved impossible since many events take place beyond the city limits.

[48] Several checkpoints to stop outsiders were put up on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, an action that state and federal officials consider illegal.

[66] As of August 28, 2020, 46 cases in Minnesota had been linked to the rally, including two hospitalizations, with one person in intensive care.

[70] A paper by economist Dhaval Dave and colleagues at IZA Institute of Labor Economics estimated the number of cases that could have been caused by the 2020 rally, at which few attendees wore masks, could have infected 267,000 and result in $12.2 billion in health care costs.

[71][72] A partnership between Slate magazine, New America, and Arizona State University, questioned the methodology and thereby contested the findings of the study.

The Slate analysis did find the IZA estimates for Meade County, South Dakota, between 177 and 195 cases (0.038–0.042% of attendees), to be consistent with the raw data.

[73] South Dakota governor Kristi Noem said the study was "fiction," and an "attack on those who exercised their personal freedom to attend Sturgis...Predictably, some in the media breathlessly report on this non-peer-reviewed model, built on incredibly faulty assumptions that do not reflect the actual facts and data here in South Dakota.

"[citation needed] By September 8, 2020, South Dakota reported 124 residents had become ill after attending the rally.

[74] Researchers noted that the actual figures were probably higher since many people who attended the rally refused to speak to them.

[78] The Rapid City Journal and South Dakota Public Broadcasting feature daily coverage of the Sturgis Rally.

[79] The Seattle Times covered some of the 2008 Sturgis Rally while rock band Judd Hoos was playing at the Loud American Roadhouse.

In 1997, notable attendees at the rally included the crew from the television series COPS, and basketball player Dennis Rodman.

The episode features Hank and Peggy buying a motorcycle to rekindle their marriage and traveling to the event.

Television coverage of the festival by the VH1 Classic network includes interviews and performances as well as rock music videos from the Buffalo Chip Campground.

[85] The shows American Chopper and Orange County Choppers featuring bike builders Paul Teutul Sr and Paul Teutul Jr had multiple episodes that featured bikes being built for, and brought to the Sturgis Rally.

Paul Sr credits David Mann's paintings as the reason he wanted to start building choppers.

In American Chopper season 11, episode 1 "Welcome Back", Paul Jr makes a trip to Sturgis to meet with the owner of the Buffalo Chip, Rod Woodruff.

In season 11, episode 2's "Getting the Bike Back Together", Paul Jr unveils the "Legend's Ride Chopper" at The Buffalo Chip Speakeasy.

Starting in 2009 an American reality television series began airing on the truTV network, Full Throttle Saloon, showing the inner operations at the world's largest biker bar just prior to the rally opening and for the duration of the rally each year.