No NFR ticket? No problem, as rodeo events spread across Las Vegas

About eight years ago, Plaza hotel-casino CEO Jonathan Jossel looked around the property during the annual National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. Others in the industry said the city-wide 10-day event was a boon to their bottom line during an otherwise slow period — but Jossel didn’t see it, even as a sponsor.

But the property did decide to try something new: use its undeveloped land south of the parking garage to build an equestrian arena for additional rodeo events.

“It was a risk, but I was willing to take the gamble because we weren’t busy then,” Jossel said of the December 2018 opening.”

Six years later, Plaza’s CORE Arena is an equestrian center in Downtown Las Vegas and walking distance of the tourist-heavy Fremont Street Experience. Up to 5,000 spectators can watch ranch sorting, pole bending, barrel racing, breakaway roping and other free rodeo events during the hotel-casino’s rodeo programming.

“There are different promoters that come in and do the other events, and we sponsor them and make their events more viable, then they buy hotel rooms,” Jossel said. “It’s become arguably the best 10 days of the year now for the consistent stretch.”

It’s not just the National Finals Rodeo that gets people to Las Vegas in early December. With performances selling out every night at Thomas &Mack Center, rodeo fans interested in alternative events to watch can visit about half a dozen venues in the region as properties look to attract fans with their own offerings and diversify their revenue streams.

Rodeo beyond Thomas &Mack

While the top rodeo athletes may be the original draw to town, a growing slate of additional competitions that take place at at least six venues around Las Vegas are bringing thousands of additional rodeo fans to the area, said Bo Gardner, vice president of corporate marketing at Las Vegas Events.

“Those are for the people that don’t have tickets to NFR,” Gardner said. “They want to be cowboys, and this is where the cowboys are.”

One successful vertical has been youth competition. His organization is responsible for coordinating and planning NFR around Las Vegas, and they saw youth events like the Junior World Finals at the Las Vegas Convention Center as a way to bring hotel guests to properties that otherwise didn’t see a piece of the action.

“Even the Las Vegas board said, ‘Why are you bringing youth in when this is Las Vegas?’” Gardner said of the initial response to youth rodeo events in 2015. “We have all these properties that would not participate in the NFR unless those youth events were here. You’re bringing your kid, now they’re bringing mom and dad and sisters. We have 740-plus contestants in just our event over 10 days.”

Other events with adult rodeo athletes give visitors something to do if they don’t have an NFR ticket. At South Point’s arena and equestrian center, the Miss Rodeo America Pageant and the World Series of Team Roping competitions fill the 4,600-seat arena with semi-professional contestants for more than a week. Last year’s prize pool was $18 million.

South Point has long been the center of rodeo action year-round. Around NFR, the resort-casino annually hosts the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association’s national convention, the Gold Buckle Gala, PRCA Awards, a Western gift convention and countless live broadcasts from the hotel side.

With so much going on, General Manager Ryan Growney said they don’t sell hotel rooms to the general public during that time — relying only on hotel room blocks. The roughly 4,000 horse stalls, a mix of permanent spaces under the arena and 2,800 temporary ones, see similar levels of demand.

“Before this rodeo ends, we’ll be 200 rooms oversold for next year, maybe more,” South Point General Manager Ryan Growney said.

Establishing a rodeo presence

Some newcomers to the Strip see arena programs as a way to make an impression on the rodeo tourist crowd. Resorts World, which opened in June 2021, saw a chance early on when it became the host partner for the Bullfighters Only World Championships.

Solomon Schwartz, head of sponsorships and activation at Resorts World, said at that time they heard the event was preparing to move from the Tropicana. The COVID-19 pandemic also helped, he said, because routines were disrupted and long-time tourists were trying new things.

“It was also a benefit for us that it was right after COVID, the norms were changed,” Schwartz said. “These customers are creatures of habit. It’s really hard to make them leave a location that they’ve become accustomed to. We filled that gap when they hadn’t been here for two years.”

Schwartz said the five days of bullfighting take place at the Complex, an approximately 1,500-seat arena built on Resorts World’s 88-acre modular land. That event space was most recently used during Formula One as the site of a go-karting and fan fest experience.

“When you think of NFR, you have the event from 5:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., probably a lot of people go to Cowboy Christmas during the day, and then, really, what are you doing before the rodeo starts? This is filling that gap there,” he said. “They usually go on around 1 p.m. and end around 3 p.m. It brings more foot traffic to the property during some of these slower periods of the day.”

Schwartz said the event space is just one piece of the property’s activations. Other rodeo programming includes watch parties, country music performances and athlete meet-and-greets.

Adding authenticity

At the Plaza, Jossel said CORE Arena has been key to building up the brand’s association with NFR in the minds of returning customers. The events — plus 260 horse boarding stalls, a steakhouse, the on-site gift show Downtown Christmas Expo, among other NFR preparations — help illustrate the property’s approach to rodeo and Western culture.

“We wear the hats, we wear the jackets, we get to know the customers, and that’s what they want,” Jossel said. “They want familiarity and good service. And if you give them that, this becomes their home. And I think we built a database on people that consider the Plaza, and this equestrian center, as their place for the 10 days of NFR.”

To Growney, other hotel-casino operators who want to beef up their NFR programming should consider how it can be done authentically. Sometimes that can take years, he added. Contestants, programmers and stock contractors will see it if the property’s staff is familiar with rodeo.

But Growney’s first piece of advice to new operators during NFR isn’t about authentic programming — it’s about knowing your audience:

“Lower your beer prices,” Growney said with a laugh.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.