...The development comes on the heels of the PRCA's rejection of a bid
to keep the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, where it's been held 29
consecutive years in the Thomas & Mack Center. PRCA officials are
still negotiating with Las Vegas Events. But Osceola County officials in
central Florida outside of Orlando are attempting to lure the finals by
committing to $10 million more in prize money for the contestants, a
24,000-seat rodeo arena and millions of dollars in marketing, according
to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. A final decision could come within the next week. In
the middle of those negotiations, the PRCA board also rejected rodeo
contestants’ plea for increased representation on the board. There
currently are four contestant representatives on the nine-member board;
cowboys wanted six representatives on an 11-member board, with an
affirmative vote requiring at least seven votes. PRCA spokesman Jim Bainbridge said the board rejected the proposal for
more contestant representation because it needed more time to make a
decision. Meanwhile, large, lucrative rodeos in places such as Houston and
Calgary, which once put on PRCA-sanctioned events, now stand alone. As a
result, money earned at the rodeos doesn't count in the PRCA standings,
which qualify the top 20 moneywinners in each event for the annual
year-end National Finals Rodeo. Bainbridge said there have been
discussions about forcing contestants to only compete in PRCA-sanctioned
events in order to be eligible for the finals. But there hasn't been a
proposal brought before the board to that effect. Neither side has offered much in the way of details so far, much to the frustration of Wyoming rodeo organizers. “Both
sides aren’t telling the whole story. I don’t think the whole of the
argument between them has all been brought out,” said Central Wyoming
Fairgrounds Manager Tom Jones, who oversees the PRCA-sanctioned rodeo
each July during the Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo in Casper. Thermopolis Cowboy Rendezvous Committee President Mark Ellis said his
PRCA-sanctioned event only has $2,500 added. However, attendance has
gone up each of the past four years because the rodeo's timing appeals
to some big-name cowboys looking to pick up extra cash en route to the
Cody Stampede. “Something like this coming along really put a
stick in the spokes because, to get good rodeo for your spectators, you
need to have a certain amount of those top-50 cowboys coming to your
rodeos,” Ellis said. “But you need the added money for those top cowboys
to come.” Ellis is worried a new association comprised of the
best in the sport will only lead top cowboys to compete only in
big-money events. Evanston Cowboy Days Rodeo President Matt Petrie
said his event might lose some of the top talent from out of state, but
he doubts the local guys who draw audiences are going anywhere anytime
soon. “The Wright brothers (Jake and Cody) are high in the
bareback standings,” Petrie said. “They are nearby from Utah, and a lot
of people come specifically to see them, but they do a lot of non-PRCA
events too.” Some of the non-sanctioned events are the biggest in
the business. The Calgary Stampede, Arlington’s American Rodeo in Texas
and RodeoHouston, which recently struck out on its own, each offer
seven-figure purses. Dan Cheney, CEO of Cheyenne Frontier Days, is
confident Wyoming’s premiere PRCA event offers enough cash – upward of
$1 million - to draw top talent regardless of association. “If
you’re going to be a premium experience, you bring in the world’s best …
rodeo talent, rodeo athletes, as well as rodeo stock,” Cheney said.
“We’ve done that for a very long time. It’s key to our success and it
will be the key to our success in the future, whether they are a part of
the PRCA or not.”
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