ProRodeo Sports News - June 9, 2023

EDITOR’S LETTER TRACY RENCK

Contestants gear up for lucrative summer run Phil Doyle photo Tie-down roper Riley Webb, above, kick-started his 2022 PRCA season by winning the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo, which helped him make his Wran gler National Finals Rodeo debut last December in Las Vegas.

C owboys say it all the time – the PRCA season is not a sprint it is a marathon. With that context in mind, contestants need to pick things up to a brisk jog as the season heads into the middle of June. The big rodeo on the upcoming rodeo slate is Reno, Nev. The Reno Rodeo has long been called the start of the season – especially by veterans. The Reno Rodeo is slated for June 16-24 and last year the rodeo paid out $729,506 to contestants. If a cowboy has a stellar performance in Reno, he can earn around $15,000 to $20,000. Bull riders can cash in even more in the “The Biggest Little City in the World,” Reno’s nickname, since there is a Division 1 Reno Rodeo Xtreme Bulls on June 15. In 2022, four cowboys who won Reno qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge. The list consists of bareback rider Leighton Berry; co champion saddle bronc rider Sage Newman; tie-down roper Riley Webb; and bull rider Creek Young. During Reno, contestants will also try to cram in appearances at Playoff Series rodeos in Pecos, Texas (June 21-24) and Prineville, Ore. (June 22-24). That will set the stage for the lucrative Cowboy Christmas run beginning the last week of June and through the first week of July. A year ago, reigning back-to-back PRCA World Champions – team roping header Kaleb Driggers and heeler

Then there’s the 2023 Calgary Stampede (July 7-16), which paid out $1.8 million last season to competitors. Reigning back-to-back PRCA Tie-Down Roping World Champion Caleb Smidt earned a rodeo-best $67,000 in Calgary last year. Sandwiched with Calgary is the 2023 NFR Open powered by RAM in Colorado Springs, Colo., June 11-15. The NFR Open will be one of the biggest rodeos of the 2023 ProRodeo season with $1 million in payouts to contestants, livestock and other PRCA members. Then, there’s the “Daddy of ‘em All” – Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days, July 22-30. Last season, Cheyenne dished out $1.2 million plus to contestants. It doesn’t take a math wizard to realize from the middle of June until the end of July is a stretch where many contestants will punch their tickets to the coveted 2023 Wrangler NFR, Dec. 7-16 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. All the hard work, blood, sweat and tears can be rewarded in these six-plus weeks with a chance to win a gold buckle. Every contestant loves to rodeo, or they would not be competing in the PRCA.

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.

However, winning the gold buckle is the ultimate prize. No matter what someone does the rest of their rodeo career or rest of their life for that matter, they will always be known as a PRCA World Champion gold buckle winner. Let the action begin and watch it unfold on prorodeo.com, our social channels and the pages of the ProRodeo Sports News .

Junior Nogueira set a Cowboy Christmas single-event timed-event earnings mark with each of them taking home $35,152 over the nine-day stretch.

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ProRodeo Sports News 6/9/2023

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