The Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) is the national championship professional rodeo in Canada, held in Red Deer, Alberta, and previously in Edmonton. The CFR takes place in early November and is the final event of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) season. It offers one of the richest purses in Canadian rodeo, usually worth over C$1,000,000.
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Canadian Professional Rodeo Association
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Currently, the CFR features the 10 leading money winners in each event throughout the Canadian rodeo season, as well as the first- and second-place finishers in each event during the last 10 rodeos of the Canadian Tour season. Each CFR event is contested over five days, featuring six rounds. Before 2006, only Canadian residents were able to compete in the CFR. However, international contestants are now eligible to compete, granted they qualify. [1]
From its inception through 2007, the CFR had a unique sudden-death format in which none of the prize money the competitors had earned during the season carried over to the finals. Competitors who finished in the first four places in each round of the CFR received points on a sliding scale from 40 points to 10 points. At the end of the rodeo, the top four places in "the average" (i.e., average time or score throughout all the rounds) also earned points on the same scale. The performers with the most points in each event were crowned Canadian champions. [1]
In 2008, at the request of the competitors, the CFR adopted a format similar to that of the National Finals Rodeo in the United States. The competitors now carry over their money earnings during the Canadian season, and the money they earn during the CFR is added to their season total, with the leading money-winner in each event at the end of the CFR crowned as season champion. The contestants argued that the amount of money on offer at the CFR made it impossible to clinch a season title before the CFR, and that adopting an NFR-style format would encourage more entries at smaller late-season rodeos. [1]
From its 1974 inception through 2017, the event was held at Northlands and Northlands Coliseum (most recently known as Rexall Place) in Edmonton, Alberta. [2] In July 2016, it was announced that the event would move to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 2017, after having rejected a bid by Northlands and Oilers Entertainment Group to continue hosting the event in Edmonton. [3]
However, on October 19, 2016, it was announced that the memorandum of understanding between the CPRA and the city of Saskatoon had fallen through, and that a new deal had been reached between the CPRA and Northlands to keep the event in Edmonton for 2017. [4] Northlands Coliseum was closed in 2018 due to financial difficulties affecting Northlands since the opening of Rogers Place. [5] [6]
On January 16, 2018, it was announced that the Canadian Finals Rodeo would move to Red Deer, Alberta, beginning 2018, under a 10-year contract. The event is now held at Westerner Park and Peavey Mart Centrium, and was extended to a six-day event with a new youth competition, and additional entertainment. Temporary seating is installed to expand the arena by 2,000 during the rodeo. [7]
The CPRA did not have a season in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it returned to having events, including the CFR, in 2021.
On October 25, 2023, it was announced that the CFR would be returning to Edmonton by 2024, only now it will be held at Rogers Place. It will be held there through 2026. [8]
Championship titles are awarded to the individuals who earn the most money in their event: [9]
Rodeo is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico. Today, it is a sporting event that involves horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the cowboys and cowgirls. American-style professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, Steer roping, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding and barrel racing. The events are divided into two basic categories: the rough stock events and the timed events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other events such as breakaway roping, goat tying, and pole bending may also be a part of some rodeos. The "world's first public cowboy contest" was held on July 4, 1883, in Pecos, Texas, between cattle driver Trav Windham and roper Morg Livingston.
Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider.
Rodeos have long been a popular competitor and spectator sport in Australia, but were not run on an organised basis until the 1880s.
The Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) is one of the largest rodeo sanctioning bodies in the world and is open exclusively to women eighteen years of age and older. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Association currently has over 3,000 members from all over the contiguous United States, Canada, and Australia.
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier rodeo event by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money winners in the season for each event.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The PRCA is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States.
The Raymond Stampede is an annual rodeo held in the town of Raymond, Alberta, Canada on July 1. It is recognized as Alberta's oldest rodeo and Canada's oldest professional rodeo, predating the famous Calgary Stampede by ten years.
The All-Around is an award given to a rodeo competitor who is most successful in two or more events. Most individual rodeos and championships determine the winner of this award at the conclusion of the other events or championships.
The NFR Open is an annual championship rodeo event of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) held annually in the United States. The event was previously known as the National Circuit Finals Rodeo (NCFR) from 1987 through 2021, before being renamed as the NFR Open in 2022. Qualification for the event comes via winning the season title or winning the average title at the regional circuit finals rodeos in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing, breakaway roping or bull riding. To qualify, a competitor must compete in one of the 12 PRCA U.S. regional circuits; Montana, Mountain States, Wilderness, Columbia River, California, Turquoise, Texas, Prairie, Badlands, Great Lakes, Southeast, and First Frontier.
Reg Kesler began his rodeo career at the age of 14 at the Raymond Stampede, competing in the boys steer riding. At the time, it was common for cowboys to compete in many or even all the rodeo events, and Kesler was no exception as he grew into his rodeo career. He participated in all five major rodeo events of the time: saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, bull riding, tie-down roping and steer decorating, a precursor to steer wrestling. Kesler especially excelled in the roughstock events, namely saddle bronc riding and bareback riding, appearing in the top four in the Canadian standings in those events six times. He was also a successful competitor in the wild cow milking and wild horse racing, an outrider in the chuckwagon racing, and a well-known pick-up man. Kesler was a ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee.
A stock contractor is an individual or business that provides animals for rodeo competition. Stock contractors supply roughstock - horses for saddle bronc and bareback bronc riding and bulls for the bull riding event, plus steers for steer wrestling and team roping, plus calves for calf roping events. Use of stock contractors who specialize in providing these animals has produced a more uniform range of bucking stock which are also quieter to handle.
Zeke Thurston is a Canadian professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in saddle bronc riding. He is a three-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Champion saddle bronc rider, as well as a four-time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) champion saddle bronc rider.
The Elite Rodeo Athletes (ERA) was a professional rodeo organization founded in 2015. Its only season was in 2016, and it ceased operations the following year.
Fred Whitfield is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in tie-down roping. He won eight Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world championships and three National Finals Rodeo (NFR) aggregate titles. Seven of those titles were World Tie-Down Roping Championships and one was the World All-Around Cowboy Championship. He is one of a very few black professional cowboys and by far the most successful. Whitfield was elected to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2004.
Phil Lyne is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA)/Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Lyne was the RCA Rookie of the Year in 1969. Two seasons later at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), in 1971, he won the all-around cowboy world championship and the tie-down roping world championship. At the NFR in 1972, he repeated as the all-around world champion cowboy and added a second tie-down roping world championship. Lyne won his first and only steer roping world championship at the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) in 1990. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) is the governing body of professional rodeo in Canada. Its championship event is the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) held every November.
Rayel Robinson is a Canadian horse trainer and barrel racing champion. She won the Canadian Barrel Racing Championship in her sport in back-to-back wins in 1990 and 1991, and repeated in 1999 and 2005. She was reigning champion of the Ponoka Stampede in 2005, 2006, and 2007. She trained Tia, the horse who was awarded the Most Heart designation of the Canadian Finals Rodeo in 1991 and 1992 and in a single year had five horses that she trained qualify for the Canadian Finals Rodeo. She was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2017.
Grated Coconut #G-65 is a Canadian former rodeo bucking horse that was specialized in bareback bronc riding. He was a six-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bareback Horse of the Year. He was also a six-time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Bareback Horse of the Year from. He has been inducted into three halls of fame, including the ProRodeo Hall of Fame of the PRCA, the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame of the CPRA, and the Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame of the PRCA-sanctioned Ellensburg Rodeo.
Virgil F13 is a rodeo bucking horse. He is specialized mainly in bareback bronc riding, but is sometimes used in saddle bronc riding. Although born in North Dakota, United States, he has lived most of his life in Alberta, Canada. Virgil is a two-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bareback Horse of the Year, as well as a two-time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Bareback Bucking Horse of the Year. He won the award in both organizations in the same years; 2017 and 2018. He was also awarded the Bareback Horse of the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) four times from 2015 to 2018, as well as the Bareback Horse of the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 2017. He is also the horse that was ridden for the highest-scored bareback ride in PRCA history, which occurred in 2022.
Cody Snyder is a Canadian former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding and is a current bull riding event producer. In 1983, Snyder became the first Canadian to win the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championship at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). He holds the highest-scored ride in Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) history, scoring 95 points in 1983. He is an inductee of the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Ring of Honor, Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and most recently the Bull Riding Hall of Fame. Since his retirement in 1993, Snyder has produced over 400 bull riding events across North America under his company Bullbustin' Inc. He has also appeared as a color commentator for rodeo events on ESPN, OLN, Sportsnet, TSN, and CBC.
