Friday, January 10, 2014

NFR not likely to ride into sunrise

Call it rank speculation from the edge of the arena, but it’s hard to believe the PRCA won’t make a counteroffer that enables the National Finals Rodeo to remain in Las Vegas. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association is due to deliver its counteroffer to Las Vegas Events on Jan. 14. The rodeo organization has been very publicly wooed by business interests in Orlando, Fla. While we’re on the subject, it’s also hard to imagine throngs of rodeo fans, most of them from west of the Mississippi, making the sojourn all the way to Orlando to take part in the NFR party atmosphere. One Las Vegas rodeo insider estimates that 80 percent of contestants and visitors during the NFR live in the West. Although it gets little press during the organized chaos of rodeo week, Las Vegas attracts many thousands of rodeo fans who stay several days but only have tickets for one night of the event. They watch the action on closed-circuit or catch the highlights between trips to the dance hall, Cowboy Christmas or casino floor. With this week’s announcement that several top performers intend to break away from the PRCA and rope their own organization, it might sound like an ideal time for a local group to invite them to base their operations in Las Vegas. Don’t expect it to happen. Although one of the PRCA defectors is Trevor Brazile, who holds ultimate rock star status in the sport as an 11-time all-around champion, it remains uncertain whether a fledgling organization can draw enough top qualifiers to make it viable on a national tour level. PRCA events are ubiquitous throughout the West. Those top rodeo stars might have overplayed their hand with the PRCA. The rodeo organization might have done the same thing with Las Vegas, which spent several years marketing the event before it became the big winner everyone knows today...more

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