Cowtown Coliseum | |
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General information | |
Town or city | Fort Worth, Texas |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 32°47′22″N97°20′52″W / 32.789500°N 97.347740°W |
Current tenants | Professional Bull Riders (2022-present) |
Website | |
https://cowtowncoliseum.com/ |
Cowtown Coliseum is a 2,400-seat arena in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, that hosts weekly rodeos. It also occasionally hosts concerts and local team sporting events.
The venue was built in 1908 and was originally known as Grand Coliseum. [1] Part of the historic Fort Worth Stockyards, the structure is the first ever indoor arena for rodeos in the United States. The building was refurbished in 1986. [2]
The Stockyards Championship Rodeo has been held at Cowtown Coliseum almost every Friday and Saturday since 1992. The venue also occasionally holds events sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo (BPIR), Working Ranch Cowboys Association (WRCA), and Bulls, Bands & Barrels (BBB). During Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day weekends, the Stockyards Championship Rodeo is also held on Sunday. [3]
The Professional Bull Riders (PBR) held their very first event in April 1993 at Cowtown Coliseum. In late December 1993, the venue was the first stop of the 1994 inaugural season of the PBR's Bud Light Cup Series. [4] In February 2021, the PBR's elite series, now known as the Unleash the Beast Series, returned to Cowtown Coliseum for the first time since 1993 to host an event. [5] The PBR's Touring Pro Division hosted the Cowtown Classic at the Coliseum every New Year's Eve or New Year's Day for several years. In 2022, the PBR's Challenger Series hosted Sunday events known as PBR Sundays at Cowtown at the venue from June through August. [6] Since 2023, the PBR hosts lower-level events known as Stockyards Showcase at the Coliseum on most Thursdays of the calendar year. These events are the kickoff to the Stockyards Championship Rodeo held on Fridays and Saturdays. [7] Since 2024, the PBR World Finals are held at two different venues in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex; the first six days are held at Cowtown Coliseum, then the final two days at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. [8] By that same year, the PBR Team Series' Texas Rattlers will hold their annual three-day hometown event, Rattler Days, in two different venues. During its first two years, all three days of the event were held at Dickies Arena (also in Fort Worth). However, since 2024, the first day is held at Cowtown Coliseum, while the next two days are held at Dickies Arena. [9]
Since mid-October 2023, after the conclusion of the PBR Stockyards Showcase on Thursday and the Stockyards Championship Rodeo on Friday and Saturday, American freestyle bullfighting sanctioned by the Ultimate Bullfighters (UBF) is held on Sunday. Cowtown Coliseum has been the home of the UBF World Finals every December since 2021. [3]
On four select Sundays of the year, an event called Mexico En La Sangre (Mexico In Our Blood) also takes place at the Coliseum. It features charrería (Mexican rodeo), Mexican folk dances, and dancing horses. [3]
Cowtown Coliseum also houses the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame, as well as the Bull Riding Hall of Fame. [10] [11]
Two Presidents of the United States have spoken at the Coliseum - Teddy Roosevelt in 1911 and Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s. [12]
Elvis Presley performed there four times from 1955 to 1956 when it was known as North Side Coliseum. [13] Ike & Tina Turner performed at North Side Coliseum in 1966. [14]
Lane Clyde Frost was an American professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding, and competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He was the 1987 PRCA World Champion bull rider. He was also the only rider ever to score a qualified ride on Red Rock, the 1987 PRCA Bucking Bull of the Year.
The Will Rogers Memorial Center (WRMC) is a 120-acre (0.49 km2) American public entertainment, sports and livestock complex located in Fort Worth, Texas. It is named for American humorist and writer Will Rogers. It is a popular location for the hosting of specialized equestrian and livestock shows, including the annual Fort Worth Stock Show, the annual National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity, the World Championship Paint Horse Show, and 3 major events of the National Cutting Horse Association each year. It is also the former home of the Fort Worth Texans ice hockey team, and it hosted a PBR Bud Light Cup Series event annually from 1995 through 2004. Events at the WRMC attract over two million visitors annually. The complex contains the following facilities:
Cheyenne Frontier Days is an outdoor rodeo and western celebration in the United States, held annually since 1897 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It bills itself as the "World's Largest Outdoor Rodeo and Western Celebration." The event, claimed to be one of the largest of its kind in the world, draws nearly 200,000 annually. Lodging fills up quickly during the peak tourist season throughout southern and eastern Wyoming, into northern Colorado and western Nebraska. The celebration is held during the ten days centered about the last full week of July. In 2008, Cheyenne Frontier Days was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
Ty Monroe Murray, is an American former professional rodeo cowboy. He competed in the three "roughstock" events; bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, and bull riding. He won nine world championships in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA); seven in all-around and two in bull riding. He was also one of the co-founders and a board adviser of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). From 2005 to 2020, he was also a regular color commentator for several televised PBR events.
Cody Lambert is an American former professional rodeo cowboy. He specialized in saddle bronc riding and bull riding. He was also a co-founder and vice president of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). He created the protective vest that professional bull riders have been required to wear for many years, after witnessing the death of his friend, Lane Frost at the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on July 30, 1989. Since 2022, Lambert has been the head coach of the Texas Rattlers during the PBR Team Series season. In 2023, the Rattlers won the PBR Team Series Championship title.
Richard Neale "Tuff" Hedeman is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bull riding. He won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championship three times, as well as the 1995 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world championship. He also won the 1993 world championship for the now-defunct Bull Riders Only (BRO) organization. He is also one of the co-founders of the PBR and is known for having been one of rodeo icon Lane Frost's closest friends. He and the infamous bucking bull, Bodacious, had a few historic clashes. He later served as the President of the PBR and then the President and Ambassador of Championship Bull Riding (CBR). In 2018, he formed his own bull riding organization: the Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding Tour (THBRT).
The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is the largest bull riding league in the world, sanctioning hundreds of events every year in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Australia. Over 800 bull riders from said countries, as well as others hold PBR memberships.
Adriano Silva Morães is a Brazilian former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He was one of the leading bull riders in the world from the mid-1990s to 2000s, with two titles at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) and three Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world titles to his credit.
The Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame in Fort Worth, Texas, dedicated to the sport of rodeo.
Myrtis Dightman is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He is a ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee. Known as the "Jackie Robinson of Rodeo", Dightman was the first African-American to compete at the National Finals Rodeo.
The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is the oldest continuously running livestock show and rodeo. It has been held annually in Fort Worth, Texas since 1896, traditionally in mid-January through early February. A non-profit organization, the Stock Show has provided millions of dollars in grants and scholarships in its tenure and continues to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to assist the future leaders of agriculture and livestock management.
James Carroll Sharp is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. In 1988, he became the first bull rider in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)'s National Finals Rodeo history to successfully ride each of his 10 bulls during the champion-crowning event. The record-breaking performance earned Sharp his first of two PRCA World Champion Bull Rider titles. He rode professionally for nearly 20 years, and was a co-founder of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). He is considered among the most talented bull riders in history.
The Professional Bull Riders Heroes and Legends celebration honors five divisions in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), including the best bucking bulls.
The Bull Riding Hall of Fame, located at Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, is a hall of fame for the sport of bull riding. It is incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Texas, and created to "recognize, memorialize, and applaud the bull riders, bullfighters, bulls, stock contractors, events, and individuals who have made a historic contribution and attained stellar performance in the sport." Membership is open to fans worldwide.
Dickies Arena is a 14,000-seat multipurpose American arena, located within the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The venue hosted a public ribbon cutting on October 26, 2019. The first event held was a Twenty One Pilots concert on November 8, 2019.
V-61 was a hall of fame bucking bull known only by his brand, V-61. In 1970, he was the Bucking Bull of the NFR. In 2012, the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame inducted V-61. In 2015, the Bull Riding Hall of Fame inducted him into its inaugural class. In 930 attempts, only four bull riders managed to complete rides on him for a total of five qualified rides. His owner retired him in January 1974 and he died later that year.
The Unleash the Beast Series (UTB) is the Premier Series of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). Monster Beverage Corporation is the current series sponsor for the premiership since 2018. From its founding in 1994 through 2002, it was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch (Bud Light Cup Series), and the Ford Motor Company (Built Ford Tough Series) from 2003 through 2017. The UTB series was televised on CBS Sports Network from January 2018 through May 2024. It has been televised on TUDN and streamed on Vix Premium, both in Spanish, since 2024. By November 2024, the UTB series will be televised live in English on Merit Street and live-streamed for free on the Merit+ application. It will also be live-streamed on the paywall-subscription-based streaming service PBR+. The top 40 riders and top bulls compete at each event. It culminates at the PBR Unleash the Beast World Finals at the end of the regular season. The UTB series includes 24 events across the United States each year. Pyrotechnics, pulsating music, and special effects open each event. UTB events range from one to three days, with all 40 riders competing in the long rounds, then the top 12 returning to the Championship Round to determine the event winner.
João Ricardo Vieira, is a Brazilian professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bull riding. Since 2013, he has been a top contestant on the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) circuit, qualifying for the PBR World Finals every year since then. Since 2022, he has ridden for the Texas Rattlers during the PBR Team Series season. The Texas Rattlers won the 2023 PBR Team Series championship title.
Billy Minick is an American former professional rodeo cowboy and former stock contractor. He is part-owner of Billy Bob's Texas.
Jerome Carson Davis is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), in which he won the 1995 PRCA bull riding world championship. He also competed in the Bull Riders Only (BRO) and Professional Bull Riders (PBR) circuits; the latter of which he was one of the founding members. Since 2022, he has been the head coach of the Carolina Cowboys during the PBR Team Series season.