The COVID-19 pandemic was responsible for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association opting to move NFR to Dallas this year, but the 10-day rodeo will be back in 2021.
Rodeo
The National Finals Rodeo is returning to Texas, where it began in 1959. It won’t be held in Las Vegas for the first time in 35 years.
Officials will attend the National Finals Rodeo to ensure that the biggest cash cow on the local sports calendar doesn’t wander too far from Las Vegas amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ariat World Series of Team Roping at the South Point, which last year paid $13.8 million to contestants, will not be held amid new coronavirus regulations.
The Pro Bull Riders World Finals, which has been held in Las Vegas since 1994, will move to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for this year’s event.
Two ancillary events to the National Finals Rodeo are moving to Fort Worth, Texas, for a year — the popular Cowboy Christmas gift show and the nine-event Junior World Finals.
Midway through Wednesday’s announcement confirming the 2020 NFR will be temporarily moving from Las Vegas to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, amid the coronavirus pandemic, Fort Worth mayor Betsy Price made it official.
The pandemic will move the National Finals Rodeo, one of the most successful special events on the Las Vegas calendar, to the home of baseball’s Texas Rangers this year.
The coronavirus pandemic has inflicted substantial financial damage on the Las Vegas sports scene. Fans may need patience before a full recovery takes place.
Similar to the National Finals Rodeo, the PBR said they could host this year’s event, slated to occur Nov. 4-8 at T-Mobile Arena, in another city in order to include fans with Nevada not yet allowing crowds at sporting events.
The retail gift show, held annually at the Las Vegas Convention Center, won’t occur because of the coronavirus pandemic, regardless of whether the rodeo occurs.
Sponsors of the National Finals Rodeo are looking elsewhere to stage its “Super Bowl” because a lack of gate receipts means no prize money for cowboy contestants.
The PRCA, which puts on the National Finals Rodeo, said it’s still mulling its options amid the coronavirus pandemic, which include possibly hosting it outside of Las Vegas.
Hall of Fame musician Charlie Daniels, who was 83 when he died this past week, was so enamored of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas that he wrote a song about it.
A letter from George Taylor, CEO of the PRCA, indicates that the sport’s Super Bowl in December in Las Vegas might be in jeopardy if coronavirus spikes persist.