PRORODEO Sports News - June 1, 2026

Three-time PRCA World Champion Bareback Rider (2016-18) Tim O’Connell earned an 87-point score on Championship Pro Rodeo’s No. 350 at Rodeo Corpus Christi.

the timing of the event during the second week in May made it a can’t-miss opportunity for cowboys looking for a leg up in the PRCA | Bill Fick Ford World Standings before the start of the summer run. “I’ve always loved this rodeo,” O’Connell said. “It’s one of the last indoor rodeos of the winter. When it was a one-header back in the day, it was a $15,000 one-header for the rough stock. It was cool because there weren’t a lot of $15,000 added rodeos back then.” Gay said it’s not uncommon for people to travel 75 or 80 miles from other parts of the Lone Star State to attend the rodeo and partake in the surrounding Buc Days festival and carnival.

Rodeo Corpus Christi leans into its coastal positioning by embracing the “Coastal Cow boy” aesthetic. The rodeo’s logo features a cowboy riding a marlin instead of a bucking bull or bucking horse. The smells of Texas barbecue and fresh seafood permeate the grounds. And instead of a belt buckle or saddle, for the last eight years, the committee has award ed surfboards to winners in each discipline. “We’ll have guys showing up at our bar becue with their cowboy hats and flip-flops barbecuing right outside on the bay front,” Philipello said. “It’s fun. It’s who we are down here in South Texas. Why not embrace it?”

16 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE JUNE 1, 2026