Photos by Dave Jennings
By Kelly B. Robbins
MACK ALTIZER In rodeo, as in most sports, champions earn awards. Most champions greatly impact their sport, because they work very hard to be better, and this brings growth and makes the sport better. The impact of this is that as the sport grows, revenue grows, the fan base grows, sponsorships increase, and more money is offered to the contestants. That is flat out a win-win situation for rodeo. The more money offered to contestants draws the bigger name contestants, which draws more fans to the events, which draws more sponsors, which results in more money for the contestants. And on it goes! Mack Altizer’s Bad Company Rodeo has impacted the growth of rodeo and bull riding for several decades. He has earned quite a few awards. He was the PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year in 1998. He was the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association Stock Contractor of the Year in 1994 and 2000, and the Professional Women’s Rodeo Association Stock Contractor of the Year in 1999. He is a member of the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.
excitement and change that revolutionized and revitalized the sport. In May of this year, Mack and his Bad Company Rodeo were inducted into The Bull Riding Hall of Fame in Fort Worth. “That was a good deal,” Mack said. “It was shocking really. It was unexpected, and it was never something I set out to do. But so many changes in bull riding developed off of what we did!” Mack grew up with a rope in his hand. He is the son of the late Jim Bob Altizer, a Hall of Fame match roper considered by many to be one of the greatest of all time. Mack competed in the American Junior Rodeo Association and the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. His senior year of high school, he won the National High School Calf Roping championship in Sulphur Springs, Louisiana.
Mack received the Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2019 PBR Heroes and Legends Celebration in Las Vegas at the PBR Finals. Mack has always had a love for excitement and change. His innovative ideas brought highenergy rock and roll, and new-fangled marketing strategies to bull riding and rodeo. This brought
Mack Altizer (center), with Tammy and Bill Putnam, during the 2021 Bull Riding Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Photo by Phillip Kitts / Avid Visual Imagery
Humps-Horns.com · 19 · September 2021
