PRORODEO Sports News - March 21, 2025

“ YOU KNOW , EVERYBODY HAS A STARTING POINT BUT THEN IT ’ S YOUR JOB TO TAKE THAT A LITTLE BIT FURTHER. MEDIA, I DON ’ T WANT TO SAY IT ’ S THE LAST FRONTIER, BUT IT ’ S OUR NEXT FRONTIER. I THINK RODEO HAS A LOT OF GROWTH ROOM. ” – Leon Vick, Vice President of Rodeo, Horse and Livestock Operations at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo championships somewhere and luckily, I had a governor (in South Dakota) who believed in it.” Established in 2023, the regular season-culminating event brings together the top four finishers from the Cinch Playoffs at the Puyallup (Wash.) Rodeo along with the top eight from each event in the PRCA Playoff Series Standings. The addition of the Cinch Playoffs has reshaped the approach to competition and who has the potential to occupy the top spots going into Las Vegas. The Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, S.D., features a $1.3 million purse that has the potential to take a middle-of the-pack competitor and turn them into a bonafide contender overnight. NFR will always be the goal, but a visit to the Cinch Playoffs has become nearly a required steppingstone to get

Bull rider and Utah native Hayes Weight at 2024 Days of ' 47 in Salt Lake, Utah. ( PRCA Photo by Ric Andersen )

but it’s our next frontier. I think rodeo has a lot of growth room.” Weeks prior to the 2024 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, it was announced that Teton Ridge, a collection of companies that focus solely on Western lifestyle and entertainment, had acquired The Cowboy Channel and all properties with Rural Media Group. The goal has been simple – bring rodeo to the widest audience possible. That dream continues to become reality. “I think first and foremost, with the acquisition of The Cowboy Channel, my vision is to get The Cowboy Channel in every home in America,” Lester said. “It’s currently distributed in 25 million homes via satellite TV primarily and there’s an opportunity to really take a fresh look at the distribution both linear but also the (over-the-top) and streaming apps and just make it more available to people. And then we’re also looking at investing in the top rodeos

that draw the largest audience and the biggest star power from an athlete’s perspective for money prizes.”

THE FORMAT SHIFT

Creating something that’s easy to understand was always Rorey Lemmel’s goal. As General Manager of the Governor’s Cup, Lemmel drew on his own experience as a rodeo competitor when helping build the format for how the Cinch Playoffs would shape PRORODEO’s regular season finish. “From a former contestant, we always thought rodeo needed to be on a bigger stage and to be set up to be fan friendly,” Lemmel said. “Not everybody understands the cowboy way of multiple performances, and multiple times and town in-and-out. But this is an event where people can understand it. A winner each night and the best guys in the world. Essentially, I wanted to bring the NFC/AFC

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