Fans, competitors, Vegas make NFR ‘toughest ticket to get in rodeo’

Each December since 1985 — save for the 2020 COVID year — the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo has taken up residency here in Las Vegas. The Thomas & Mack Center becomes the center of the rodeo universe.

As the 38th NFR in Vegas busts out of the chute tonight, it’s worth pondering the question: What makes the NFR the NFR?

The first and foremost answer to that question is pretty simple: Las Vegas. And that’s why, on Monday afternoon, Las Vegas Events and the PRCA announced an agreement to keep the Wrangler NFR in Vegas through 2035.

“This is a truly historic day for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association,” PRCA CEO Tom Glause said. “This commitment by Las Vegas preserves the momentum that we have established over the last 38 years.”

Las Vegas Events Chairman Bill McBeath noted the 10-year extension has been in the works for the past 18 months and that it demonstrates Las Vegas’ commitment to the NFR and the sport of rodeo.

“Along with Michael Gaughan and the support of our entire board, we have made this a priority to secure the world’s richest and most prestigious rodeo as a December fixture in our city. We appreciate the efforts of the PRCA to make this extension a reality,” McBeath said.

Gaughan, owner of South Point hotel-casino, was pivotal in bringing the NFR to Las Vegas in 1985 and is a long-serving member on the Wrangler NFR committee.

Added Las Vegas Events President Tim Keener: “For 38 years, the NFR has transformed our city and brought millions of rodeo fans to Las Vegas to share in the NFR Experience. We have built a strong partnership with the PRCA and its contestants, and feel that this new agreement will be beneficial to all parties. We are pleased to host this iconic event for an additional 10 years.”

Top contestants, passionate fans

But back to that question: What makes the NFR the NFR? Yes, Las Vegas itself is a major component. But Keener said two more elements are arguably just as important.

“It’s really the contestants and the fans,” Keener said.

Since 2001, Keener has worked for Las Vegas Events, which manages the Wrangler NFR with the PRCA. Under LVE President Pat Christenson, Keener was the point person for the NFR the past two-plus decades, primarily in his role as vice president of event and ticket operations.

But last December, Christenson announced his retirement, and Keener subsequently was elevated to Las Vegas Events president. So Keener is as involved as ever in this event, and he knows that contestants and fans continue to allow the NFR to live up to its status as the Super Bowl of Rodeo.

“You’ve got 120 of the top contestants in rodeo, competing all year long to make that top 15 in each event. Then you set your sights on Vegas,” Keener said. “We wouldn’t be where we are if it wasn’t for the passion of the rodeo fans. This event sells out by April every year. It’s the toughest ticket to get in rodeo, and the toughest ticket to get in town.

“We get 170,000 fans coming here with tickets, and an equal number come to fill up those viewing parties around town. If they didn’t have the passion to come to town, the NFR experience wouldn’t be what it is.”

Las Vegas atmosphere

Ryan Growney has seen that passion firsthand as general manager of the South Point. His property is essentially Cowboy & Cowgirl Central during the NFR — he’d actually argue, convincingly, that it’s Cowboy & Cowgirl Central all year long — so he recognizes just how much fans drive the consistent success of the Wrangler NFR.

“The South Point has become more and more the home of so many events during the NFR. It’s the main spot for the cowboys and cowgirls,” Growney said.

For example, even before the NFR kicks off tonight, the South Point has already hosted the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping. That took place Tuesday-Wednesday at the South Point Equestrian Center. During the NFR, the hotel-casino hosts myriad other events, including: the annual PRCA convention, the Miss Rodeo America Pageant, the World Series of Team Roping, and the Cinch Western Gift Show.

But where it really connects with the NFR crowd is at the nightly viewing parties — in the South Point Showroom, in its convention ballrooms and around the property — and the subsequent nightly go-round buckle presentation and concert in the Showroom.

“It’s those two weeks of the year where the South Point is the whole package. The NFR is the Super Bowl, and all those other events come here because of it,” Growney said. “To be such a large part of the Super Bowl of Rodeo is really special for us. Our employees enjoy it. They love seeing the cowboys and cowgirls coming back every year. It’s just become such a special thing for the property.”

So how would Growney answer the question: What makes the NFR the NFR? Growney could easily focus on the South Point, but he first defers to all of Las Vegas.

“It’s twofold for me. One, we are the sports and entertainment capital of the world. This is the Super Bowl of rodeo. The whole city embraces it,” Growney said. “I love the fact that the entire town goes all in for the cowboys and cowgirls. This has been happening for 38 years. The town goes country for 10 days.

“And two, at the South Point, it’s our culmination of the year — this is our Super Bowl. It’s our busiest two weeks of the year. It’s nonstop action here. If you’ve got any sort of Western way of life in you, then you’re gonna have a good time for yourself during those two weeks.”

Strip and downtown presence

And don’t think for a moment that Fremont Street Experience misses out on the rodeo rampage. Derek Stevens — owner of Circa Las Vegas, the D and the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center — has his fingerprints all over NFR week. He looks forward to the event as much as any other that comes to town, and in some ways, even more. And he’s got his take on what makes the NFR so special.

“What makes the NFR the NFR is that this is the only event that can take over the entire community, for 10 days at a time,” Stevens said. “It’s a celebration of all the hard work these cowboys and cowgirls do all year long. And it’s an all-American type of event. It’s something that really lights up Las Vegas just before the holiday season.”

Stevens has experienced firsthand the growing footprint of the Wrangler NFR. In fact, he’s helping it expand.

“The Downtown Las Vegas Events Center hosts a viewing party every single day of the NFR. And those watch parties have grown every year,” Stevens said. “This year, we’ve had to expand the watch party, because of the demand for space. We expanded the size of the tent.”

Stevens is nothing if not an ambassador for Las Vegas, so he also recognizes and applauds what the NFR does for the local economy.

“I love that there’s people out and about every day, how the NFR impacts daytime business, and then everything going on each night,” Stevens said. “It’s fantastic for jobs, and NFR fans are just such a terrific crowd. Everybody is having a great time.

“The NFR and Las Vegas are just the ultimate combination. It’s the perfect marriage.”

Within that marriage, Keener is rightly tuned in to the 18,000 or so fans that sell out the Thomas & Mack each night of the Wrangler NFR. But he recognizes the importance of the NFR’s hotel partners all around town, be it at the South Point, MGM and Caesars properties on the Strip, or off-Strip locales such as the Palms and Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

And of course, as Stevens touted, downtown on Fremont Street with Circa, the Golden Nugget and more, along with the Events Center. All the aforementioned venues and many more hold nightly viewing parties.

“You go to any of these viewing parties, and they’re all full, 300, 400, 500 people, all around town,” Keener said. “You can have just as much fan at all the viewing parties at the hotels as you can have at the Thomas & Mack.”

Plus, as Growney alluded to, there are all the spinoff rodeo events. Keener noted the lucrative World Series of Team Roping at the South Point, along with the All In series of barrel racing and breakaway roping competitions for cowgirls at the Orleans Arena, and the Bullfighters Only Las Vegas Championships at Resorts World.

Oh, and a slew of gift shows — most notably The Cowboy Channel Cowboy Christmas at the Las Vegas Convention Center — along with more than 100 concerts over the course of the 10-day NFR.

“When you come to Las Vegas for the NFR, you’ve got a smorgasbord of options from which to choose, from the time you wake up until the time you put your head on the pillow. And that’s even if you don’t have a ticket to the NFR,” Keener said.

So along with contestants and fans, Keener recognizes another key cog in what makes the NFR the NFR.

“The hotels need to be applauded here. They have gift shows, autograph sessions, other rodeo events,” Keener said. “There are so many things to do. And we keep adding more things because these fans keep attending, and they want more and more.”

Growney can vouch for that. Pretty much every corner of the South Point is touched by the NFR and its ancillary events for 10 days-plus every December.

“We’re covering every square inch of the place,” Growney said. “If you’re looking for rodeo stuff, you know you’re gonna be able to find it all here.”

The 2023 Wrangler NFR officially kicked off Wednesday night with the annual Downtown Hoedown on Fremont Street. No surprise, it was packed with fans taking in a bevy of country music performances on the Fremont Street Experience stages.

“That event just kills it every year,” Keener said of the windup for the big pitch of the 10-day NFR, starting tonight at 5:45 p.m. inside the Thomas & Mack. “That’s the great thing about Las Vegas. It’s open for business, the rodeo fans know it, and they’re coming here.”