ProRodeo Sports News July 9, 2021

DIRECTOR’S CUT SCOTT KANIEWSKI

Cash-flush Cowboy Christmas sign of things to come A s far as Cowboy Christmases go, 2021 ranks among the greats. Not because of how much money was paid out (it was $2.4 million) or how many rodeos were at it vying for the same cash. Tuf Cooper opted to compete at only six rodeos and earned a Cowboy Christmas best $31,255.

Marcos Costa, the 2017 PRCAWorld Champion Tie-down Roper, was a great example of how much money is out there right now. Costa didn’t even win a round at the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo, yet he rode away with more than $8,000. And that was before his Fourth of July run, where he earned another $5,380. Sage Kimzey is another example. The six-time PRCAWorld Champion Bull Rider already has earned more money with three months remaining in the regular season than he earned all of 2020 before the NFR. Kimzey went into the 2020 NFR in Arlington, Texas, with $92,334. As of July 6, he had $120,195. And it’s not just Kimzey. In the other six disciplines, six cowboys have already broken the $100,000 mark, with four others within $10,000. (StetsonWright is two of those four for his earnings in saddle bronc riding and bull riding, making a combined $191,068). The money is there to be had. With the Fourth of July run in the rear-view mirror, we’re less than three months away from finding out who’s going to the Wrangler NFR in Las Vegas in December and who’s going home to chart their 2022 plans. There’s plenty of money still to be won. With the payouts that have happened and ones yet to come – think ProRodeo Tour stops at the Calgary Stampede, Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo, Cheyenne Frontier Days, Pendleton Round-Up and California Rodeo Salinas – we might see record earnings for a season before the Finals.

included (34, and you can read all about it starting on page 37). It ranks among the greats because it felt normal, real, like it made a difference. Last year’s made a difference too, at a time when we all needed it. But this was different because it was the way it’s supposed to be. In 2019, the last season the world can refer to as pre- pandemic, the top 10 ProRodeo athletes over Cowboy Christmas earned a combined $260,972. During the pandemic, the top 10 earned $147,985. This year, $232,364. Some cowboys hit double digits in rodeos over Cowboy Christmas this season, while others decided to pick and choose their way around the country because they had already earned enough money that they didn’t feel obligated to go. That’s the key factor this year: the money has been there throughout the season and the options continue to expand. The fact that guys had already won enough before the Fourth of July that they didn’t feel compelled to go hard over during Cowboy Christmas speaks volumes to the amount of money that has poured into rodeos and out to the cowboys’ pockets. Last year over the Fourth, there were few options for cowboys. Not this year. This season, there were so many Fourth of July rodeos that a guy couldn’t get to every one of them even if he wanted. And that’s a key point – options. Heading into the summer months, guys knew things would open up. They knew they would have choices. They knew that every rodeo wouldn’t have the same competitors

Scott Kaniewski is the Media Director at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He previously served more than two years as the editor of ProRodeo Sports News. He has nearly two decades of experience in sports journalism, with the last few being consumed by ProRodeo.

ProRodeo Sports News 7/9/2021

ProRodeo.com

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