ProRodeo Sports News - August 2, 2019

EVENTS AROUND VEGAS

GEORGE STRAIT

feature 300 females competing for $100,000 in prize money. With free admission each day, the ALL IN Barrel Race is a must-see for rodeo fans before they head to the Thomas & Mack Center or a Wran- gler NFR viewing party. Growth also is the buzzword for an- other annual event, only this one pits man against beast in the arena: Bull- fighters Only. Affectionately known as the BFO, the competition featuring talented bullfighters against ornery Spanish fighting bulls has gotten more and more popular since it debuted in Las Vegas in December 2016. This year’s Bullfighters Only Las Vegas Championship is scheduled for December 5-14 and once again will conclude a nationwide 60-event season

with a preliminary $25,000 event, plus a $50,000 winner-take-all world championship finale. This year, every competitor will be chasing Weston Rutkowski of Haskell, Texas, who will be gunning for his fourth consecutive title at Tropicana Las Vegas. The BFO Las Vegas Championship has been such a success that organ- izers increased the arena’s seating ca- pacity to 1,200 last year. That capacity is slated to increase by another 25 percent in 2019. “The event has been growing expo- nentially, and we’ve been trying to advance it and keep it at a level that keeps our fans excited and coming back every year,” says Aaron Fer- guson, founder and owner of Bull- fighters Only. “We learn so much every year that we do this, and the

quality of the competition has gone up drastically as well. It’s definitely our pinnacle event, and we’re pretty proud of it.” Each BFO performance begins at 2 p.m. daily and is preceded by a tail- gate party and followed by an NFR viewing party inside the Tropicana, presented by Pendleton Whisky. Another hot ticket has been the Hooey Jam parties that event organ- izers host each Friday of the NFR at Brooklyn Bowl. Indeed, entertainment is the name of the game with this trio of Western events that perfectly complement the Wrangler NFR every December. And just like the Super Bowl of Rodeo, there’s little doubt that each of these secondary competitions will deliver in a big way once again in 2019.

The ALL IN Barrel Race at The Orleans Arena is fast-paced action with talented riders and horses

T - M O B I L E A R E N A A U G U S T 2 3 & 2 4 D E C E M B E R 6 & 7 TICKETS FOR ALL SHOWS ON SALE NOW AT AXS.COM

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Photo: ALL IN Barrel Race.