After rift, Vegas rekindles ‘lovefest’ with NFR
Nearly a year ago, it seemed like everyone had a beef with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based organization that sanctions the National Finals Rodeo.
The PRCA was engaged in a major dustup with Las Vegas Events, the NFR’s promoter, which was ticked off at the rodeo organization for flirting with moving the NFR from Las Vegas to either central Florida or Dallas.
Meanwhile, many rodeo cowboys pursuing the championship gold buckles were upset that their voices were not being heard on the PRCA board. Only four of the nine PRCA board members are cowboy representatives.
Even the founder of a rural-themed TV network, RFD-TV, had a bone to pick with the PRCA, which picked CBS Sports Network over RFD to broadcast the 10-day Super Bowl of rodeos from the Thomas & Mack Center.
But fast-forward to Thursday — the NFR’s opening day marking 30 years in Las Vegas — and everybody was in a fine mood. A new 10-year deal between the PRCA and Las Vegas Events has put everyone in good spirits.
“It’s a lovefest,” Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins said after a Las Vegas Events ceremony to kick off the rodeo competition at the sold-out Thomas & Mack Center and fanfest activities and Western retail shopping at Las Vegas Convention Center.
Added Las Vegas Events President Pat Christenson: “I don’t think anyone is carrying any baggage from last year. It’s 100 percent moving forward.”
Attendance is expected to hit more than 175,000 at the arena, while tens of thousands of other rodeo fans will be crowded at 42 “Beyond the Dirt” satellite-fed broadcasts and watch parties around the Las Vegas Valley. The “Beyond the Dirt” broadcasts will be everywhere from the South Point to the MGM Grand, featuring commentary of rodeo announcers live from the arena.
The spending connected to the NFR is crucial because the period in early to mid-December is typically slow for the Las Vegas hotel industry.
In 2013, 86 percent of the 176,550 attendees at Thomas & Mack were out-of-towners, with the NFR generating a nongaming economic impact of $87.9 million in the region last year.
The sport’s top cowboys, who will be roping, riding bulls, wrestling steers and trying to stay on bucking horses, are happy that this year’s prize money will spike from $6.375 million in 2014 to $10 million in 2015. Last year, cowboys who were dissatisfied with their representation on the PRCA board threatened to break away and start their own rodeos.
Veteran steer wrestler K.C. Jones, who joined the PRCA in 1995 and has career earnings of $1.1 million, said, “We know how to come together to get things done.”
But NFR barrel racer Fallon Taylor noted, “We’ll always be upset that we don’t have a bigger voice at the table. I wish we did.”
RFD-TV is back at the convention center with its broadcast set, prepared to perform four hours of daily NFR programming, said Randy Bernard, RFD-TV CEO. RFD founder Patrick Gottsch was upset last year when the PRCA picked CBS Sports over RFD.
“We have tremendous respect for CBS Sports,” Bernard said Thursday. He noted RFD-TV is pleased to continue covering the Western lifestyle and nonrodeo events that are part of the NFR’s stay in Las Vegas.
To usher in a new fan feature — a chapel offering weddings at the convention center — Sean Cassidy, RFD vice president of sales, and his wife, Dianna, were the first NFR couple to have a wedding ceremony at the chapel when they renewed their vows.
In a way, the PRCA and Las Vegas have also renewed their vows. PRCA Commissioner Karl Stressman plans to have his annual press conference Tuesday to discuss the year and the NFR.
Henderson resident Carrie LeBlanc said she expected 30-40 people to join her Monday evening to protest the way animals are treated in the rodeo. She said dog owners would not like people on horses throwing ropes round the necks of their family dogs, so rodeo animals should also not have to suffer the same fate.
Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @BicycleManSnel