2018 PRCA Media Guide - Wrangler NFR

About the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo The NFR is the season-ending championship event for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and is widely acknowledged to be the world’s premier rodeo. Held annually since 1959 – and since 1985, every December at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas – the NFR is ProRodeo’s richest and most prestigious rodeo, and it showcases the very best cowboys, barrel racers and livestock in the world. The contract signed with Las Vegas Events in 2015 keeps the NFR in Las Vegas through 2024 and raises prize money significantly over that decade. It is telecasted on CBS Sports Network and streamed live on ProRodeoTV.com. The Top 15 contestants in the standard rodeo events – bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping (headers and heelers), saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, WPRA barrel racing and bull riding – qualify to compete at the NFR based on money won during the regular season including earnings from the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour, RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo and PRCA Xtreme Bulls Tour. At the conclusion of the NFR, the sport’s world champions are determined based on total season earnings – what they win during the Finals added to earnings during the regular season. The NFR consists of 10 rounds – one round on each of 10 consecutive days; each contestant competes once each day. Cowboys and barrel racers earn money by placing first through sixth in any round, and pick up more money by placing first through eighth in the average (cumulative times or points earned during the 10 rounds). At the end of each NFR, there are two champions in each event (four for team roping): the average winner, whowon the NFR by having the best cumulative time or score over the 10 rounds, and the world champion, who finished the year with the most money (including what he or she earned at the NFR). For each event, the average winner and world championmay be the same person or different people. • At 19 years, 9 months and 4 days old, Ryder Wright became the youngest cowboy to win the saddle bronc riding world title. At the end of his second year of ProRodeo competition, Wright has won nine rounds during his two trips to the NFR. He won five rounds in 2016 and four in 2017. • Bull rider Sage Kimzey won his fourth consecutive world title. At age 23, Kimzey is the first bull rider to achieve this accomplishment. The Oklahoma cowboy entered the final round 17 points behind in the average, but he won the NFR average and the world title thanks in part for scoring 88 points on 4L & Diamond S Rodeo’s Girl Money during Round 10. • Marcos Costa became the first Brazilian cowboy to win the tie-down roping world title. Winning the final round in 7.8 seconds placed him in the lead for the average and the world title with $317,421, a mere $15,438 ahead of the second-place cowboy. Costa also won the RAMTop Gun Award for earning the most money at the NFR with a total of $195,519 won in 10 days. • Bareback rider Tim O’Connell won his second consecutive world title thanks in part to entering the 2017 NFR with the biggest lead of any competitor, a staggering $65,259 ahead of second place. The Iowa cowboy left Las Vegas with $102,905 ahead of the pack, having earned a total of $371,416 for the 2017 season. • It all came down to the final round for steer wrestler Tyler Pearson. The Mississippi cowboy was the 12th man out in the final round and clocked in at 5.2 seconds, then he had to wait and see how the final portion of the NFR panned out. Pearson left Las Vegas the world champion by a margin of $2,190. •Team ropers Erich Rogers and Cory Petska won their first world titles as one of only four teams to head and heel at least nine of their 10 steers at the NFR. 2017 NFR highlights

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WRANGLER NFR RECORDS AND HISTORY