ProRodeo Sports News - Nov. 22, 2019

DECEMBER 5-14 LAS VEGAS

in the world. If you don’t get up and ready for that (atmosphere of theThomas & Mack Center), then you have picked the wrong sport.” Beaver was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2000 after winning eight world championships, three in all-around and five in tie-down roping. “I think at first, Vegas was a place for more money and lights and attractions for the Finals,” Beaver said. “Now, you have Cowboy Christmas and the night life, and I think it is a perfect mix of the Western industry bringing the Western people into the city of Vegas and each doing good for each other. When I say that,

HIGHLIGHTS IN 35-YEAR HISTORY IN LAS VEGAS • IN 1985 , the National Finals Rodeo moved to Las Vegas and the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where the prize money has grown from $1.79 million in 1985 to $6.25 million in 2013 and $10 million in 2015. The event has virtually sold out every year. There were 169,171 fans who attended the 2018 Wrangler NFR. • IN 2014, PRCA commissioner Karl Stressman negotiated a 10-year, $175 million deal with Las Vegas Events to keep the Wrangler NFR in the city through 2024. • In 2015, 33-year-old French bareback rider Evan Jayne became the first European-born competitor to compete at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. • IN 2016 , Junior Nogueira made ProRodeo history by becoming the first Brazilian to don a gold buckle when he won the 2016 All-Around cowboy title at the Wrangler NFR. A year later, Marcos Costa became the first Brazilian cowboy to win the tie- down roping world title.

Joe Beaver is all smiles at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, while holding his son, Brody. Beaver won his first gold buckle in tie-down roping in 1985, the first year the Wrangler NFR was held in Las Vegas. PRCA ProRodeo file photo

I mean the money is finally going up like it should because of the money we bring into the town. Vegas is a totally different town during the NFR, it is a rodeo town.” Steer wrestler Luke Branquinho is another cowboy who has his own personal Vegas highlight reel. He won five world championships – 2004, 2008, 2011-12 and 2014 – in Vegas and earned $1,123,049 during his 14Wrangler NFR qualifications (2001-04 and 2006-15) at theThomas &Mack. “It is hard to explain the feeling of walking in theThomas &Mack,” Branquinho said. “The smell alone of theThomas &Mack to me speaks world championships because of the atmosphere and everything in it. There’s no rodeo anywhere that has the electricity of the NFR at theThomas &Mack. Vegas is a perfect fit for the Finals.” Cowboys and cowgirls aren’t the only people who invade theThomas &Mack Center during the Wrangler NFR. There are contract personnel chosen to work the Wrangler NFR, like ProRodeo Hall of Fame announcer Randy Corley. Corley worked the first NFR in Las Vegas in 1985 alongside the late Phil Gardenhire. Corley will call his 20th NFR in 2019. Plenty has changed since that first year in Vegas, when the NFR production wasn’t the two-hour, choreographed, entertainment spectacle it is now. “I was the alternate in 1984, the last year at Oklahoma City,” Corley said. “When I got it (in Las Vegas) I thought I would be put with a veteran, and I saw Phil Gardenhire was with me and he had never been there either. We both fessed up to each other that we were nervous, but we were going to have fun. Things weren’t as tight then, and Phil and I had a lot of fun. Back then, they might bring a flag on a victory lap and it might take them 15 to 20 seconds to get

the guy on the saddle and bring him around, and we just ad-libbed until it happened. Now, you better be ready to go with the victory lap because that flag is coming. Everything is done to the minute. Things have changed tremendously. “I didn’t in my wildest dreams think Vegas would be such a great fit for the NFR, but how natural for people all over the United States and Canada and beyond that you have a destination in Vegas with the greatest rodeo in the world.” Steer wrestler Luke Branquinho has fond memories of competing at the Wrangler NFR as he won all five of his world titles at the Thomas & Mack Center. PRCA ProRodeo file photo

ProRodeo Sports News 11/22/2019

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