ProRodeo Sports News - January 19, 2024

EDITOR’S LETTER TRACY RENCK

Saddle bronc riders Stetson Wright and Dawson Hay smile after splitting the win at the 2023 Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Fort Worth is part of a lucrative Texas winter run that also includes stops in San Antonio and Houston. James Phifer photo

ProRodeo’s winter run already full steam ahead T he National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball have one thing in common – an offseason. much – literally – to pass up. A year ago, Fort Worth paid out just under $1.1 million; San Antonio came in at $1.4 million and RodeoHouston was the PRCA’s highest-paying regular season rodeo at $1.9 million. For context, every 2023 Fort Worth champ qualified ProRodeo – not so much. The regular season ends Sept. 30, and the new year

begins Oct. 1.

for the NFR – paced by top money earners, bareback rider Rocker Steiner and steer wrestler Will Lummus at $27,080 each and all the San Antonio winners but one advanced to the NFR. Then, all the RodeoHouston winners qualified for the NFR, led by bull rider Ky Hamilton, who earned a rodeo best $67,750 and went on to capture his inaugural PRCA World Championship in Vegas in December in dramatic fashion. The theme is obvious – cashing in at these big, lucrative indoor Texas rodeos can help pave the way to a gold buckle. That’s why cowboys accept the grind that is the PRCA regular season with no real offseason. There’s no time for excuses. They want to chase the possible pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, which isn’t surprising at all for PRCA contestants. They seemingly live by the Code of the West, which has 10 principles to live by: • Live each day with courage • Take pride in your work • Always finish what you start • Do what has to be done • Be tough, but fair • When you make a promise, keep it • Ride for the Brand • Talk less and say more • Remember that some things aren’t for sale • Know where to draw the line If those principles don’t accurately describe a true

Going non-stop isn’t required based on rodeo limits in events and what makes the most sense for contestants. Yet, it is still hard to believe the record-breaking 2023 Wrangler NFR just ended on Dec. 16 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas and less than a month later the winter run was in full swing. The Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo in Odessa, Texas – the first Playoff Series rodeo of 2024 – concluded Jan. 13. By that time, Denver was underway and finishes Jan. 21. The gap between Denver and the next key stop – doesn’t exist – the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo began Jan. 19 and finishes Feb. 3. Time to catch your breath after that – nope. The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo is Feb. as RodeoHouston is Feb. 27 through March 17. Granted cowboys don’t have to compete at Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston – but if making the Wrangler NFR is the mission – which it is for most competitors – they are a must to attend. Why? All of them are important stops on the 8-25. The train keeps on rolling down the tracks in Texas

Tracy Renck is the editor of the ProRodeo

Sports News. He previously served more than seven years as a media coordinator at the PRCA. He has three decades of experience in sports journalism with the last several consumed by ProRodeo.

Playoff Series. Qualifying for Puyallup (Wash.) and the Cinch Playoffs Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, S.D., in September can be game changers for contestants trying to make the NFR. Moreover, the payout at Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston is too

PRCA cowboy, I don’t know what does.

ProRodeo Sports News 1/19/2024

ProRodeo.com

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