ProRodeo Sports News - 2021 Year End Edition

PRCA OVERVIEW

From the CEO BY TRACY RENCK T he PRCA had a change at the top when TomGlause was named its Chief Executive Officer on Oct. 8. Glause talked about the path he took to the position he’s in as well as what the sport of rodeo has to do to move forward in these still challenging times when he spoke to rodeo committees during the State of the PRCA address at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa Grand Ballroom, Nov. 30, in Las Vegas. “I tell everyone I’m a cowboy at heart and a lawyer by trade,” Glause said. “The theme for this year’s State of the PRCA is Back in the Saddle Again. The storyline for 2021 for me is the record crowds we experienced at all our rodeos both small and large. That gives me hope that ProRodeo will prosper and we are resilient and no matter what letter in the Greek alphabet that they name the next variant of the coronavirus after, we will continue to be resolvent. We have what America is looking for and we will continue to deliver, and we will prosper into the future.” Glause initially joined the PRCA staff in Colorado Springs, Colo., as Chief Operating Officer and Director of Rodeo Administration on May 15, 2019. Glause brings 30 years of experience in both the public and private sectors as an executive leader and attorney with a strong financial background. Glause’s son, Seth is a four-time National Finals Rodeo qualifying bull rider “I first joined the PRCA in 1983 and I’m a proud Gold Card member,” the elder Glause said. Glause said the mission of the PRCA is to unify the membership, provide an innovative fan experience, grow the sport of rodeo, and provide opportunities for membership and sponsors. “The vision is simply the best cowboys, the best rodeos, delivering the best fan experience while positively impacting our communities and embracing our spirit of the west,” Glause said. “We also want to review our core values. We are constantly trying to find new ways to find new efficiencies. This doesn’t always mean having the latest version of the newest software. It sometimes involves what I refer to as cowboy ingenuity and figuring out the most efficient way to get the job done.” Growth in participants in ProRodeo is something Glause also discussed. “In 2019, we thought we turned the corner as we saw the first positive growth in membership in over a decade and our membership numbers climbed,” he said. “I will always have this number engrained in my head 6,350. We thought that was a great number to build on. Then, March 8 (2020), Houston was shut down and COVID reared its ugly face in 2020 and our membership fell to about 5,500 members. “It was a year of two tales. Our membership started out strong 2020 and we were paralleling 2019 numbers and as COVID came our membership declined. I was in disbelief to be honest that COVID would linger and continue to linger into today. It lingered into the beginning of 2021, and we didn’t see the bump we expected in growth. Our members were slow to renew in 2021, but as we continued to have more rodeos more and more members came back and renewed their membership. We have not got to 2019 levels, but we exceeded 2020 in every event. We will continue to focus on membership growth and retention, and we are on the right path.” Glause went onto to speak about the importance of revenue for the PRCA. “We have to drive revenue,” he said. “Without revenue we can’t continue to prosper, and we have driven revenue to where we will have over $34 million

Glause addresses past, optimistic about the future

PRCA CEO Tom Glause speaks during the State of the PRCA address at the South Point Hotel & Casino, Nov. 30. PRCA ProRodeo photo by Clay Guardipee

forecast in revenue for 2021. That will be the best year ever in terms of revenue for the PRCA.” Glause said there were well over 600 events in 2021 and the payout is back to 2019 levels. “We will be over $50 million after the NFR, which is nearly double our regular season payout from last year,” Glause said. “Those are impressive numbers we are proud of, but we are going to continue to find ways to put more money back into the rodeos.” Some of the successes Glause cited in 2021 was the return of the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo to Kissimmee, Fla., after it moved to Greeley, Colo., because of COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. There also were a number of special sections in the roughstock at rodeos, including Odessa, Texas, Arcadia, Fla., Montgomery, Ala., Redmond, Ore., and Gooding, Idaho. The ProRodeo Tour Finale had a new home at California Rodeo Salinas. “Over $1 million was paid out to our members at that single rodeo,” Glause said. The PRCA Xtreme Bulls Finale moved to Pendleton, Ore., with a total payout more than $110,000. The PRCA Xtreme Bronc Finals in Rapid City, S.D., paid out more than $100,000. “No discussion would be complete without talking about breakaway roping,” Glause said. “The PRCA and the WPRA entered into a joint agreement to jointly promote breakaway roping. We had over 212 rodeos that hosted breakaway roping. That’s up over 300 percent from 2020 when we had 62 events with breakaway roping. “Over 11,000 total entries in breakaway roping and total payout was over $2 million compared to $600,000, again it grew by threefold in one short year.” Glause also brought up the PRCA’s partnership with Rural Media Group that began in 2020. ProRodeo content and coverage expanded growing ProRodeo viewership. ProRodeo performances were livestreamed on the PRCA on Cowboy Channel Plus app, and NFR coverage onThe Cowboy Channel, the PRCA on Cowboy Channel Plus app and RFD-TV.

ProRodeo Sports News 12/17/2021

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