ProRodeo Sports News - Dec. 20, 2019

PRCA PRESENT AND FUTURE CEO: Changes mark 2019 PRCA season

BY SCOTT KANIEWSKI T he 2019 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association season was one of noticeable change. Over the previous 12 months, significant changes helped shape the rodeo season. ProRodeo had big rodeos join the fold and up the ante when it came to paying contestants. Investing in technology saw the introduction of online entries for ProRodeo contestants. The PRCA also announced Jr. Rodeo, a youth movement that will be the foundation for improved rodeo at all levels. PRCA CEOGeorge Taylor discussed those and other topics at a press conference at theThomas &Mack Center in Las Vegas, Dec. 10. “We have a focus to drive the best cowboys,” Taylor said. “We want this organization to be known as the best of the best – best cowboys, best rodeos, all 700 of them, delivering a fan experience that is second to none and that positively impacts their local communities.” Big Rodeos RodeoHouston returned to the PRCA as a rodeo whose payout counted toward the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. For the first time, RFD’s The American had earnings count toward the world standings. “I’m also incredibly proud of payout growth,” Taylor said. “If we’re going to attract kids who didn’t grow up on farms to participate in our sport, that has to happen. Combined with the WPRA and our committees, we had nearly $60 million in payouts. We’re up about 7% in payouts this year and are positioned well for next year.” During 2019, the PRCA and Rural Media Group reached an agreement to air multiple rodeos – including the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo – onThe Cowboy Channel. “The net impact of this to our organization is between $45 million and $50 million over a six-year period,” he said. “We got paid a rights fee and don’t pay for production. It was a huge win for this organization, and it’s going to be a huge win for our cowboys, committees and general membership.” Sponsorship has also climbed. “Our sponsorship had been around flat for several years, then we were up last year (2018) around six or seven percent,” Taylor said. “This year we doubled that, up around 13 percent. We appreciate our sponsors greatly. Their partnership with us enables the operation of this sport.” Click Here Contestants can now enter rodeos online, allowing them to enter at any time and from anywhere. No more waiting until PROCOM is open to enter. That system will continue to evolve. “By the end of the year (2020), I suspect 70-80 percent of all those (entries) – like your Amazon orders – will be online,” Taylor said. The 2019 season proved that the PRCA is about unification. “Our mission is about unification in a world that is not very unified,” Taylor said. “We will only be as strong as we are united, and we will only be as weak as we are divided.” All in on Jr. Rodeo That unification includes Jr. Rodeo, which will holdThe Cowboy Channel Jr. National Finals Rodeo at AT&T Stadium the same week

PRCA CEO George Taylor addressed convention goers in the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Dec. 3. PRCA ProRodeo photo by Clay Guardipee

of The American. Multiple youth rodeo organizations will be involved. “Around 80 percent of our rodeos have said they would like to host a junior event,” Taylor said. “… I don’t want anybody to walk out of here thinking we aren’t going to collaborate with other junior organizations.” Among those who will have automatic qualifiers into the Jr. NFR are the National High School Rodeo Association, the Patriot and National Little Britches Rodeo Association. “We have to build the biggest and the best junior rodeo there is, and make this sport live and breathe,” Taylor said. Going beyond the arena is still key to a memorable experience. “The other thing about our vision that goes a step farther, is to partner with our committees in supporting the communities they live in,” Taylor said. “… It is one of the most unique parts of this sport that I love dearly because of what goes on there. It may be something seemingly as small as entertaining 25 or 30 kids at the NFR to San Antonio (Stock Show&Rodeo) and (Rodeo) Houston making multimillion-dollar contributions to scholarship funds. It is incredible what this sport does.” Taylor advised that 2020 will be bigger. “In my opinion, 2020 is going to be a media explosion because of the amount of content that will get on television, on digital,” he said. “The Cowboy Channel and RFD-TV will put a lot of content on television for us. Our partner Wrangler Network has plans to grow what they’re doing, and we’re going to grow what we’re doing on digital. … We’ll begin to develop a relationship with our fans like never before.”

ProRodeo Sports News 12/20/2019

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