ProRodeo Sports News June 14th, 2019

SPECIAL SECTION

PONOKA STAMPEDE Ponoka,Alberta June 25-July 1 ponokastampede.com The Ponoka Stampede is a marquee event. It has become one of the largest PRCA-approved rodeos in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association. The Stampede runs June 25-July 1, making it a certain stop for contestants during PRCA’s crucial Cowboy Christmas run. The Ponoka Stampede has a storied history. The first year of the Stampede (1936) marked a two-day rodeo with a carnival to celebrate July 1 – Canada Day. In its infancy, the Ponoka Stampede had 3,000 rodeo fans. It has blossomed into one of the top rodeos in the world, with a payout of nearly $500,000. In addition to the rodeo, the event has beer gardens, dances, concerts, parades and a midway fair. This year, the Ponoka Stampede is unveiling 16 corporate suites. “That was a major deal,” said Blake Butterfield, the timed-event director of the Ponoka Stampede. “With those suites we are knocking on having 10,000 (capacity). We also have a new, big, state-of-the-art replay screen over the timed-event end. Everybody in the enclosure can see it. ... The last few years we’ve been kind of stuck on having 72,000 to 74,000 fans come to our rodeo. So, we thought we needed to do something different.” The rodeo is hoping to hit 80,000 fans over the course of the week. The town of about 7,200 sees more than 800 volunteers during the rodeo week. In 2012, the Ponoka Stampede was awarded the PRCA Remuda Award, given to the rodeo with the best and most consistent pen of bucking horses. “We pay $50,000 per event at the rodeo, and it is not beyond the realm to get to $70,000 or $75,000 in our rodeo events,” Butterfield said. “What brings cowboys to the rodeo is more money. Being part of (PRCA’s) Cowboy Christmas gives us something to strive for and get better and keep growing.”

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ProRodeo Sports News 6/14/2019

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