7 minute read
HOW MATT WEST FOUND HIS VOICE IN RODEO
PRESENTED BY
THE WESTERN SPORTS PERASONALITY, ENTREPRENEUR AND PODCAST HOST REFLECTS ON HIS RISE IN THE PBR.
Matt West is a busy man. Between being a go-to announcer for the PBR, recording his podcast, and overseeing operations at the gym he owns near his hometown of Delaware, Okla., it’s hard to imagine how one man can handle so much. As an announcer, he’s on the road most weekends, tasked with the job of narrating the rodeo experience for thousands of excited fans. As a podcaster, he’s a thoughtful conversationalist, digging into the minds of his guests on Matt West Now. The podcast is available on Spotify, iTunes and anywhere else quality podcasts are available. Finally, as the owner of Westfit Gym in Nowata, Okla., he’s deeply engaged in improving the lives of those in his community through fitness. And, in case that’s not enough to keep him occupied, 39-year-old West serves as an endorsee for American Hat Company and Wrangler. He also works with Cooper Tires, Texas-based Fenoglio Boot Co. and WSM Auctioneers. But West wasn’t always the confident, capable PBR announcer fans know and love. “I was super shy growing up,” he says. “So I never in a million years dreamed I would talk in front of crowds of people. And, still to this day, sometimes I have to remind myself how crazy it is.”
FROM RADIO TO RODEO
West never planned on becoming one of the best-known western sports announcers in the industry. He grew up around horses and rodeos and judged horses in college, thinking he might eventually become a horse show judge. Although he’d dabbled in radio, it was just a pipe dream.
However, things changed rapidly one day after he and a friend attended a Junior Bull Ride event.
“My buddy and I kind of made fun of the announcer. We said we could probably do better than that guy,” he says. “So, we got forced into doing a Junior Bull Ride. And I say ‘we,’ but he didn’t show up, and I got forced into doing it by myself.”
The team that put on the event invited him back to several more events. It wasn’t long before others recruited him as an announcer for amateur rodeos.
- MATT WEST
“My very first rodeo performance had everything go wrong that could possibly go wrong,” he says of that first event, which took place in 2004. “And I knew that from that moment forward, I’d never have another performance that was as rough to navigate as that one.”
By 2007, he was announcing for the PBR, and by 2010, he found himself at the PBR World Finals.
“The cool thing about announcing live events or being on live television is there is no safety net. You have to adjust,” he says. “I think sometimes we forget that in our day-to-day lives. We’re never promised tomorrow. And so we get through today as best we can,” he says.
Photo: Andy Watson / bullstockmedia.com
Photo: Christopher Thompson
A MODERN VOICE IN THE BUSINESS
West has more than 28,000 followers on Instagram and 10,000 fans on Facebook, plus he reaches thousands of others with his podcast. He credits social media with bringing renewed interest to western sports among the masses.
“It’s helped bring in new eyeballs and partnerships. It’s helped grow different brands, businesses, everything. It’s grown exponentially,” he says. “Now our athletes can tell their own stories. So I can get on social media and see that a bull rider just announced he and his wife are expecting a child. Those are the kinds of things that fans can relate to.”
His enthusiasm for social media also speaks to West’s passion for storytelling. He believes these firsthand accounts foster direct connections between riders and fans, which he taps into in his role as an announcer.
“At the end of the day, if you can personalize and make a fan relate to an athlete, then now all of a sudden, they’ve got a reason to cheer for that person,” he says.
This passion for stories is also one of the reasons Matt West Now features guests from numerous different disciplines. In addition to rodeo athletes, past guests have included police officers, bodybuilders and UFC fighters.
“I’m a fan of good people. And that’s probably something I’ll have them put on my tombstone someday,” he says. “If you’ve got a positive story or a story of overcoming adversity, somebody can learn from that.”
Photo: Andy Watson / bullstockmedia.com
Photo: Todd Brewer
- MATT WEST
Photo: Andy Watson / bullstockmedia.com
PAYING IT FORWARD
Today, West uses his platform as a beacon of inspiration to others. Westfit Gym is a testament to his mission to improve the lives of those around him.
When he was 22, he struggled with his weight. The thought of working out made him uncomfortable, to the extent that it was difficult for him to work up the courage to even walk into a gym.
“I developed this promise to myself that if I were ever in a position to help other people, I would,” he says. “If I could ever open a gym and ensure that people wouldn’t be intimidated and that everybody could come in — that every age range at every stop along their individual fitness journey could all come together and have a place to go — I was going to do that.”
The 24-hour gym fosters a sense of community through fitness. It’s a welcoming space and there’s a piece of West in every element of the brand. This includes the gym’s logo, which features a bull with a half-smile similar to West’s.
While West deserves credit for his long list of accomplishments, he also tips his hat to his wife, Megan. After initially meeting via Instagram several years ago, the two made it official when they married in April this year.
“We really are that couple that, if people could see our everyday life behind the scenes, they would be so disgusted because we are annoyingly positive and annoyingly obsessed with our own relationship with each other,” he says.
THE FUTURE OF WESTERN SPORTS
In looking ahead at the 2021 PBR World Champion title race, West thinks it’s Jose Vitor Lemé’s buckle to lose. While last year’s World Champion is currently the PBR’s number one ranked bull rider, West doesn’t discount 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco or 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis, ranked second and third, respectively. The PBR’s top three riders are also all competing for their second World Champion title.
However, he’s also keenly aware of the rising stars who could quickly shoot up in the rankings with consistent performances.
“We’re very fortunate to be living in a time where the young bull riders are so incredibly talented that it can be anybody at any given time,” he says of young riders to watch. “I’m a big Chase Dougherty fan right now. I love Ezekiel Mitchell. I’m a huge advocate for Andrew Alvidrez. I don’t know that anybody works as hard as Andrew Alvidrez does and thinks about bull riding as much as he does.”
Drawing on his 17 years as an announcer, West will continue to use his voice to bridge the gap between traditional audiences and new generations of fans. He’s optimistic about the growing opportunities to make western sports accessible to all.
“That’s the great thing about our sport is you don’t have to grow up in the industry, or around the lifestyle, to be infatuated with it or to become a fan of it,” he says. “We have something for everybody in the sport.”
Photo: Leo Loera / bullstockmedia.com
