The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier championship rodeo of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). It showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money winners in the season for each event.
Since the rodeo uses 'special dirt', the dirt is stored on the UNLV campus for use in the next NFR.
Events
The NFR is the final rodeo of the PRCA season. World championship titles are awarded to the individuals who earn the most money in his or her event throughout the year.[5][6]
Seven events and nine championships are sanctioned by the PRCA:[7]
Bareback riding - a rider has to stay on a bucking horse and is only allowed to hang on with a "rigging" attached by a cinch and latigos. The rider [8] must stay on the horse for eight seconds to be considered a successful ride. Each successful ride is then judged for a maximum score of 100 points. The more difficult the horse is to ride and the more control the contestant has during the ride, the higher the score. After a successful ride, two pickup riders in the arena assist the contestant by helping him safely dismount the still-moving horse. The bareback rider with the highest score wins.
Steer wrestling - also known as "Bulldogging," is a rodeo event where the rider jumps off his horse onto a Corrientesteer and 'wrestles' it to the ground by grabbing it by the horns. The contestant that wrestles the steer to the ground the fastest wins. This is probably the single most physically dangerous event in rodeo for the cowboy, who runs a high risk of jumping off a running horse head first and missing the steer, or of having the thrown steer land on top of him, sometimes horns first.
Team roping - also called "heading and heeling," is the only team event in professional rodeo. Two ropers capture and restrain a full-grown steer. One horse and rider, the "header," lassos a running steer's horns, while the other horse and rider, the "heeler," lassos the steer's two hind legs. Once the animal is captured, the riders face each other and lightly pull the steer between them, so that both ropes are taut. The team that ropes their steer the fastest wins. This technique originated from methods of capture and restraint for treatment used on a ranch.
Saddle bronc riding - similar to bareback riding, but the rider uses a specialized western saddle without a horn (for safety) as well as a bronc rein and has to stay on the bucking horse for eight seconds. Like in bareback riding, two pickup riders attempt to help the contestant dismount the still-moving horse after a successful ride. Also like bareback riding, each successful ride is then judged for a maximum score of 100 points. The more difficult the horse is to ride and the more control the contestant has during the ride, the higher the score. The saddle bronc rider with the highest score wins.
Tie-down roping - also called calf roping, is based on ranch work in which calves are roped for branding, medical treatment, or other purposes. It is the oldest of rodeo's timed events. The cowboy ropes a running calf around the neck with a lariat, and his horse stops and sets back on the rope while the cowboy dismounts, runs to the calf, throws it to the ground and ties three feet together. (If the calf falls when roped, the roper must lose time waiting for the calf to get back to its feet so that the roper can do the work.) The job of the horse is to hold the calf steady on the rope. The contestant that ropes his calf the fastest wins. A well-trained calf-roping horse will slowly back up while the cowboy ties the calf, to help keep the lariat snug.
Barrel racing - is a timed speed and agility event. In barrel racing, horse and rider gallop around a cloverleaf pattern of barrels, making agile turns without knocking the barrels over. In professional, collegiate and high school rodeo, barrel racing is an exclusively women's sport, though men and boys occasionally compete at local O-Mok-See competition. Barrel racing takes place with other PRCA sanctioned events, but it is sanctioned by the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA). Results are shown on that web site.[9] The contestant that successfully passes the cloverleaf pattern the fastest wins.
Bull riding - an event where contestants attempt to ride full-grown bucking bulls for eight seconds. Like the bucking horse events, each successful ride is then judged for a maximum score of 100 points. The more difficult the bull is to ride and the more control the contestant has during the ride, the higher the score. The rider with the highest score wins. Although skills and equipment similar to those needed for bareback bronc riding are required, the event differs considerably from horse riding competition due to the danger involved. Because bulls are unpredictable and may attack a fallen rider, rodeo clowns, now known as "bullfighters", work during bull-riding competition to distract the bulls and help prevent injury to competitors.
All-Around - the All-Around Cowboy is actually an award, not an event. It is awarded to the highest money winner in two or more events.
The All-Around world title is awarded at the end of the NFR to the highest-earning cowboy who has regularly competed in more than one event during the year. In addition to world championships, an average winner is crowned in each event.[10][11]
Note: Steer roping is publicized separately and its finals are held separately at the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR).[12] The National Finals Breakaway Roping (NFBR), held in conjunction with the NFR since 2020, has been held to determine the WPRA's world champion breakaway roper.[13]
Since the NFR is extremely popular, it sells out all seats for all of the events. Many casinos carry the events live in their sports books or host special parties to accommodate all of the fans in town who cannot get tickets for the events. Most of the major hotels and casinos book special entertainment into their showrooms with a country theme offering many of the regular shows an extended break.[14]
History
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR), known popularly as the "Super Bowl of rodeo," is a championship event held annually by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Said organization, founded in 1936 as the Cowboys' Turtle Association, then renamed the Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1945, and known as the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association since 1975, established the NFR in order to determine the world champion in each of rodeo's seven main events. Bareback riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, and bull riding have all been a part of the NFR since the first one in 1959. Team roping was added in 1962, and barrel racing was added in 1967. The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top fifteen money winners in each event as they compete for the world title. From 1981 through 2000, the NFR also had American freestyle bullfighting, where the top six bullfighters from the Wrangler Bullfighting Tour, which had the Wrangler jeans company as the title sponsor, competed at the event after a year of competing at numerous regular-season events for the chance to qualify for the NFR and try to win the bullfighting world championship. The Wrangler Bullfighting Tour was discontinued after 2000, and freestyle bullfighting became largely obscured for several years, until being heavily revived in the 2010s. Today, freestyle bullfighting has its own organizations that specialize in the event and world championships are determined there. The world championship steer roping competition, the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR), also held since 1959, has always been held separately from the regular NFR. The NFSR has been held at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas since 2014. The National Finals Breakaway Roping (NFBR) has been held since 2020 to determine the Women's Professional Rodeo Association's world champion breakaway roper. The event is held in conjunction with the NFR.
The inaugural NFR was held in 1959 in Dallas, Texas, at the Texas State Fair Coliseum and continued at that venue through 1961. From 1962 to 1964, Los Angeles, California's Los Angeles Sports Arena hosted the competition. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, successfully bid in 1964 to be the host city. In 1965, the first NFR at the State Fair Arena drew 47,027 fans. The NFR remained there through 1978. From 1979 to 1984, the NFR took place at Oklahoma City's Myriad Convention Center, bringing state merchants an estimated annual revenue of $8 million. In 1984, Las Vegas bid for the event. Although the Oklahoma City Council considered building a new $30 million arena at the State Fairgrounds, the Las Vegas bid won. Since 1985, the NFR has been held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The NFR has become Thomas & Mack Center arena's biggest client, bringing in more than 170,000 fans during the 10-day event.
The NFR has had a different number of rounds throughout its history. In 1959 and 1960, there were ten rounds; from 1961 to 1966, there were eight rounds; from 1967 to 1969, there were nine rounds; from 1970 to 1977, the event went back to ten rounds; in 1978, there were eleven rounds; and in 1979, the NFR reverted back to having ten rounds, which has been consistent since then.
In 2001, a landmark sponsorship agreement was achieved and Wrangler became the first title sponsor of the National Finals Rodeo. The agreement, part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's continuing effort to elevate professional rodeo to a new level, was made by PRCA Commissioner Steven J. Hatchell.
Oklahoma has bid to return the NFR to Oklahoma City, but is always outbid by the deep pockets of Las Vegas. Starting in 2011, Oklahoma City hosted the National Circuit Finals Rodeo (NCFR), which is the Finals for the PRCA's semi-pro series. This was seen as a step towards proving the crowds exist to bring the NFR back to Oklahoma City when Las Vegas' contract was scheduled to end in 2014.[15] Following the completion of the 2013 rodeo, Dallas, Texas, and Kissimmee, Florida, made bids to become the host city starting in 2015. On January 24, 2014, the PRCA signed a contract extension through 2024 with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.[16] Because the Dallas area hosted in 2020 as a result of Nevada state restrictions, the contract extension was moved to 2025. However, just a few days before the start of the 2023 NFR, it was announced that the Las Vegas Events Board of Trustees and the PRCA Board of Directors had reached an agreement to keep the NFR in Las Vegas through 2035.[17]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Nevada's state mandated health restrictions, the 2020 National Finals Rodeo returned to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for the first time since 1961 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, where the state's health restrictions were less onerous.[18][19] The inaugural National Finals Breakaway Roping (NFBR) was also held at Globe Life Field.
The NFR returned to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas in 2021, while the NFBR moved to the Orleans Arena, also in Las Vegas, that same year.
In 2022, the NFBR moved to Las Vegas' South Point Arena. Unlike the first two NFBRs, which took place on same days as the NFR, since 2022, the NFBR takes place two days before the start of the NFR.[20][21]
The 2023 NFR was scheduled to take place from Thursday, December 7 through Saturday, December 16. However, as a result of the UNLV shooting on Wednesday, December 6, which occurred at the Lee Business School, only a mile away from the Thomas & Mack Center, the first round of the NFR was postponed out of respect for the victims.[22] Instead, the first day of competition was held on Friday, December 8. To ensure that there would be ten rounds, on Wednesday, December 13, there were two rounds; one in the afternoon behind closed doors (meaning those with Night One tickets were not given a makeup) and the next one that night with standard Wednesday tickets.[23]
In June 2024, the PRCA and Las Vegas Events announced that their contract to keep the NFR in Las Vegas through 2035 would amount to $264,324,473 in total prize money for contestants and stock contractors.[25]
Format and prize structure
The NFR consists of ten days, each of which has a competition, or "go-round", in each event with its own prizes. In addition, each event has a separate set of prizes for having the best combined results over the ten days, referred to as "the average."
The payouts are based on the total prize pool. For every $208,000 in the prize pool, the top six in each go-round receive $620, $490, $370, $260, $160, and $100, and the top eight in the average receive $1,590, $1,290, $1,020, $750, $540, $390, $270, and $150.
In 2012, the prize pool was $6,125,000, so each go-round paid $18,257 for first, $14,429 for second, $10,895 for third, $7,656 for fourth, $4,712 for fifth, and $2,945 for sixth, and each event's average paid $46,821 for first, $37,987 for second, $30,036 for third, $22,085 for fourth, $15,901 for fifth, $11,484 for sixth, $7,951 for seventh, and $4,417 for eighth.
Between 2015 and 2020, the NFR paid out a total of $10 million; $8.8 million in competition prize money and $1.2 million in guaranteed prize money to qualifiers. The total purse increased to $10,257,048 in 2021 and $10,900,098 in 2022. Based on the updated purse in 2023, the increase saw round winners take home $30,706 per round and average winners earn $78,747. Each go-round paid a total of $99,053, while the average total paid $297,159 per event. The stock contractor pay, which is 30% of the contestant payout, increased to $3,450,451.[26]
Impact on UNLV
The Thomas & Mack Center is the home court for the UNLV basketball team. By hosting the NFR, the basketball team plays a few of their away games for about 12 days every December while the NFR is in the Thomas & Mack Center.
Broadcasting
The National Finals Rodeo has been televised consistently since 1974. From that year to 1986, the event was telecast through syndication. From 1987 through 2010, it was broadcast by ESPN, although its coverage was often tape delayed due to coverage of other events. From 2011 through 2013, the NFR was broadcast live on Great American Country (GAC).[27] From 2014 through 2019, it was televised on CBS Sports Network.[28]
Since 2020, the NFR has been televised live on The Cowboy Channel and streamed live on the paywall-subscription-based Cowboy Channel+ app.[29] From 2020 through 2023, it was also televised live on RFD-TV.
Related Research Articles
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, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding, breakaway roping, and barrel racing. The events are divided into two basic categories: the timed events and rough stock events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other events such as 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.
Steer roping, also known as steer tripping or steer jerking, is a rodeo event that features a steer and one mounted cowboy.
Breakaway roping is a variation of calf roping where a calf is roped, but not thrown and tied. It is a rodeo event that features a calf and one mounted rider. The calves are moved one at a time through narrow runs leading to a chute with spring-loaded doors. The horse and rider wait in a box next to the chute that has a spring-loaded rope, known as the barrier, stretched in front. A light rope is fastened from the chute to the calf's neck, releasing once the calf is well away from the chute and releasing the barrier, which is used to ensure that the calf gets a head start. Once the barrier has released, the horse runs out of the box while the roper attempts to throw a lasso around the neck of the calf.
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 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.
Lewis Feild was an American professional rodeo cowboy. He specialized in bareback bronc riding and saddle bronc riding and competed on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit. He was the All-Around World Champion from 1985 to 1987 at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). He was also the Bareback Riding World Champion from 1985 to 1986. The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted him in 1992 in the all-around category.
History of rodeo tracks the lineage of modern Western rodeo.
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.
James BurtonMauney is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. At the very beginning of his career, he rode in both the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and Championship Bull Riding (CBR) circuits, before deciding to ride full-time in the PBR in early 2006. He won the PBR Rookie of the Year title that same year and was a top contestant in said organization for several years, eventually winning the PBR world championship in 2013 and 2015. During the last few years of his career, he competed full-time in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He is considered one of the greatest bull riders of his generation.
Roy Dale Cooper is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who competed in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) events for more than two decades. He won the all-around world championship in 1983 and claimed seven individual discipline championships, including six tie-down roping titles. Cooper won the PRCA's Rookie of the Year award in 1976, and was nicknamed "Super Looper" for his roping ability. The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted Cooper in its Tie-Down Roping category in 1979.
Shane Proctor is an American professional rodeo cowboy. He is the 2011 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world champion bull rider.
The Heart of the North Rodeo is located in Spooner, Wisconsin, United States. The rodeo takes place the first full weekend in July every year since 1954, except 2020. It is sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Fans from all over come to watch the professional cowboys and cowgirls compete in the seven main events of rodeo, and even some up-and-coming little cowboys and cowgirls.
Kaycee Feild is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bareback bronc riding and competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He is a son of PRCA World Champion all-around cowboy Lewis Feild. He has won six bareback riding world championships; the most of any PRCA bareback riders. He won them from 2011 to 2014, and again from 2020 to 2021. He is the first cowboy to win three consecutive bareback riding average titles at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR).
Phil Lyne is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA)/Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He 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.
The National Little Britches Rodeo (NLBRA) is one of the oldest youth based rodeo organizations. It was founded in 1952, and sanctions rodeos in over 33 states. NLBRA allows children ages 5 to 18 to compete in a variety of different rodeo events. It’s championship event is the National Little Britches Finals Rodeo. The NLBRA headquarters is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. The NLBRA was founded in Littleton, Colorado. The Finals were held in Pueblo, Colorado, but moved to the Lazy E in Oklahoma in 2016.
Guy Allen is an American ProRodeo Hall of Fame cowboy and an 18-time steer roping world champion. He competes in rodeos sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He won the world title for the steer roping event 18 times when competing at the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) and also won the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) Average title five times. He had won the title 11 times in a row when Buster Record broke his streak. Allen is also inducted into eight rodeo halls of fame.
Wanda Harper Bush was an American professional rodeo cowgirl. She competed in the Girl's Rodeo Association (GRA), now known as the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), and won two barrel racing world championships, in 1952 and 1953. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 1978 and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2017. The August 2017 induction ceremony was ProRodeo's 38th annual event, and marked the first time in the event's history that the class of inductees included barrel racers from the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA).
Hailey Kinsel, is an American professional rodeo cowgirl who specializes in barrel racing and competes in the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA). She won the WPRA barrel-racing world championship in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022 at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). She has also won the NFR Average title once in 2020. Kinsel and her horses have qualified for the NFR six times in her years in professional rodeo; in 2017 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. She has been competing in rodeo since adolescence, winning awards through high school and college in both barrel racing and breakaway roping, as well as professional rodeo. Her horse, Sister, won the Barrel Racing Horse of the Year Award in 2018.
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 three-time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Bareback Horse of the Year, as well as a two-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bareback Horse of the Year. He was also awarded the Bareback Horse of the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) five times from 2015 to 2018 and 2024, 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.
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