The Return to Vegas

ReturnThe

The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR) is returning to Las Vegas this year December 2nd, 2021 for an event that will span over 10 days with the finale on December 11th at the Thomas & Mack Center. All of the events will also be aired live on The Cowboy Channel. The entire event is organized by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and it is the premier championship rodeo event to take place in the United States every year. The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is a competition that showcases the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s elite talents and the top 15 money winners in each event as they will compete for the World Title. Last year the event was temporarily held at a relocated site of the Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas due to COVID-19. The WNFR is scheduled to take place as usual this year in Las Vegas in 2021 where it has been held in the first week of December every year since 1985.

The WNFR, which is known popularly as the “Super Bowl of rodeo,” was previously held in Oklahoma City before it was decided to move to Las Vegas as Benny Binion and the President of the WNFR at that time, Herb McDonald, had the vision to make it happen. The prize money from Herb McDonald and Las Vegas Events was increased that year from $900,000 to $1.8 million going to the Cowboys and $700,000 going to the contractors. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association established the event in 1958 as a championship to determine the World Champion in seven different main events: TieDown Roping, Steer Wrestling, Bull Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding, Bareback Riding, Barrel Racing, and Team Roping. It is currently the largest event at the g

Returnto Vegas

Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada bringing in more than 170,000 fans during the 10 days of the event. Oklahoma has bid to get the WNFR back there but Las Vegas has continuously won the bid to the rights of the event. In January of 2014, the PRCA signed a deal to extend the contract between the WNFR and Las Vegas to continue to hold the event in Las Vegas through the year 2024 that has now been extended to 2025 because of the inability to host the event in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Nevada state-mandated health restrictions.

Prior to the championship event for the PRCA being held in Oklahoma City, the WNFR originally took place in 1958 in Dallas, Texas. The event was aimed at determining the World Champion in each of the seven events. The venue continued to be held in Dallas through 1961 until it was moved to Los Angeles, California for the years 1962 through 1964. That is when the event moved to

Oklahoma City in 1965 after they successfully won a bid to host the event. The first time the WNFR was held in Oklahoma City it drew a crowd of over 47,000 fans. It remained there until 1984 when it eventually moved to where it is still held today in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1985.

The WNFR is the final rodeo event of the season for the PRCA. In this event, the World Championship Titles are awarded to the competitors who had earned the most money in his or her events throughout the entire year. This final championship rodeo features seven events and 10 championships that are sanctioned by the PCRA followed by the announcement of the All-Around winner.

One of the most popular events is Bareback Riding. In this event the rider has to stay on a bucking horse for at least eight seconds to secure a successful run. The cowboys are only allowed to hang on to the horse by using a surcingle called a rigging and also a sturdy lead rope called a bronc rein that is attached to the horse’s halter. Each successful eight second ride in this format is scored out of a maximum of 100 points per ride. The riders are judged on how hard the horse is to ride and how in control the rider is during the run. This ultimately determines how many points the rider will score for that ride of at least eight seconds. The cowboy that has the most total points collectively at the end of the competition wins the event.

The next event is Steer Wrestling. In this event the cowboy is on a horse and the rider jumps off of their horse and wrestles a steer to the ground by latching onto its horns. This is based on speed as the cowboy is timed on how fast they can achieve this feat. It is one of the more entertaining but also dangerous events as the cowboy can run the risk of jumping off of his horse and missing the steer landing in an awkward position at high speeds. The cowboy could also potentially have the steer get on top of him and catch a horn in a bad place. This event is also sometimes known as “bulldogging.”

The only team event in the competition is Team Roping. This is where two ropers go after a full-grown steer and attempt to capture and restrain it in the fastest time possible. Both teammates are on horseback and one rider, called the header, lassos the running steer’s horns. At the same time the other rider, called the heeler, lassos the steer’s two hind legs. The two partners then face each other and pull the steer between them once the animal is successfully captured. The event was designed to be a simulation of a real-life event that occurs on ranches when cowboys need to capture and restrain an animal for treatment.

Saddle Bronc Riding is an event that is very similar to Bareback Riding but in this case, the rider uses a western saddle with no horn and a bronc rein while attempting to stay on the back of a horse for eight seconds. The scoring system is the same as Bareback Riding as each run is scored out of 100 points and the cowboy with the most total points is awarded the winner at the end.

The oldest rodeo event is Tie-Down Roping. It is also called Calf Roping and it is when a cowboy ropes a running calf with a lariat aiming to get it around its neck. His horse then stops and the cowboy dismounts the horse to run to the calf, throwing it to the ground and then tying three of its feet together. The horses are trained for this event to hold the rope taught to the calf to ensure the calf doesn’t keep moving while the cowboy attempts to tie it. This event is all based on speed and originated from cowboys wrangling up calves for branding or treatment on a ranch.

The next event is a women’s specialty event called Barrel Racing. This is another timed event in which the rider is on horseback and gallops through a clover pattern of barrels attempting to make tight turns without knocking over the barrels. The contestant that goes through the circuit the fastest wins the event as long as there are no deductions from knocking over a barrel which would add five seconds per barrel knocked over onto the time. This event is only competed in by females at the championship level. Hailey g

Kinsel has won the event the last three years running and will compete for her fourth straight this year.

Breakaway Roping is another common female rodeo event that is not currently in the WNFR but is looking to be added in the coming years. This event as of right now has its own National Finals, the National Finals Breakaway Roping (NFBR) that coincides with the WNFR. While it was held at the same venue as the WNFR last year at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the second annual NFBR is going to be held at The Orleans in Las Vegas. The roping will consist of 10 rounds held over the course of 2 days. In Breakaway Roping the calf is let go before the horse and rider and then the cowgirl lassos the calf around the neck and then signals the horse to stop. The rope used to lasso the calf is tied to the horn of the horse’s saddle and when the calf pulls to the end of the rope it snaps marking the end of the run. The fastest time that a rider does this is in is awarded the winner.

Lastly in the WNFR, is the Bull Riding event. This is where cowboys ride full-grown bulls that are trying to buck them off for at least eight seconds. The scoring is the same as the other bucking horse events where each run is scored out of 100 if they stay on for eight seconds and then the rider with the most total points is declared the winner at the end. This event is far more dangerous than Bareback or Saddle Bronc Riding due to the unpredictability of the bulls that may attack, stomp, or stab a rider with their horns. Rodeo clowns are used the most often in this event with the goal of them protecting the Bull Riding competitors by distracting the bulls after the rider is bucked.

Finally, the All-Around title is granted at the end of the competition to the highest-earning cowboy that competed in more than one event throughout the year. This is the most popular event and sells out every seat in the house to witness who will be crowned World Champion of the WNFR that year. Last year’s winner of the All-Around competition was also the Bull Riding winner in Stetson Wright.

The current All-Around leader this year in the PRCA is Stetson Wright again as he looks to be the favorite going into the WNFR. He has a wide lead on the next up in Paden Bray who currently has winnings of $135,000 compared to Wright’s $320,000. While he is currently far ahead in the All-Around, Wright only has a slim

lead in his best event, Saddle Bronc, at just $193,000 to $181,000 against his older brother Ryder Wright who is 23 years old. This will be an interesting storyline to follow heading into the WNFR in December. Stetson Wright originates from Milford, Utah and is just 22 years old. He specializes in Bull Riding and also Saddle Bronc Riding and will be one of the fan favorites to see at the WNFR. The big money event is Bull Riding which Stetson also excels at but is currently in second place to Sage Kimzey by a total of $264,000 to $204,000. The Bareback Riding leader this season is Tilden Hooper who is in a much closer contest with second place rider Tim O’Connell who has $142,000 in current winnings while Hooper has $161,000. This will most likely be a tight competition heading into the WNFR championships. Jacob Talley leads the Steer Wrestling prize money so far at $117,000 to second place Jesse Brown at $92,000. Shane Hanchey has a sizable lead on the Tie-Down leaderboard at $173,000 to Westyn Hughes $133,000. Cole Patterson also has a comfortable lead in Steer Roping over Vin Fisher, $104,000 to $65,000. Hailey Kinsel will look for her fourth consecutive Barrel Racing WNFR Championship in 2021 as she currently has the lead in that event $113,000 to $102,000 over Jordon Briggs. All of the current riders’ winnings and rankings are as of October 15th, 2021.

With these events taking place in Las Vegas, most of the casinos will carry all the events on their sportsbooks for people to place bets on. The casinos will also host special parties to accommodate all of the WNFR fans that come to Las Vegas for the event and even for those that don’t have tickets for all of the events. Hotels and casinos will even book special shows during this time in their showrooms with country-themed entertainment. g

The cowboys and Vegas love having the WNFR take place in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a great time for Las Vegas as far as having thousands of visitors that have tickets for the events that total 170,000 people going to at least one event over the course of the 10 days it takes place. Also, the thousands of more people who come just for the Las Vegas rodeo-themed festivities make the trip just to have a good time in Sin City with other rodeo fans. Many casinos will transform for the week to accommodate these rodeo goers and fans that will see resorts world turn into rodeo world for a week. Events set to take place around the rodeo feature some of the best country and rock bands from the last few decades such as Brooks and Dunn, who will be performing with Reba at the Colosseum in Caeser’s Palace for seven days starting December first through the end of the WNFR, December 11th. Some other musicians and groups to be performing in Las Vegas during the 10 days of the event include: Shania Twain, Journey, George Strait, Little Big Town, and Brantley Gilbert, among many more. Even for WNFR fans who can only make a couple of events or none at all, there are sure to be musical acts that they will be interested in for their stay in Las Vegas.

Besides musical acts during the WNFR, casinos are putting on ongoing events around the competition for the many fans who will be flocking into the city that never sleeps. Virgin Hotels Las Vegas will be hosting a nightly recurring event every day of the WNFR December 2nd through December 11th called the Official Wrangler NFR Viewing Party that will open at 4 pm every day and be followed by Cowboy Revival Live Acoustic/Power Acoustic Performance and DJ Music Party after the final rodeo events conclude each day. The Mirage hotel will also host recurring events every night of the WNFR called The Mirage Presents Rodeo Vegas where they will have a live viewing party followed by free concerts nightly from country music’s biggest stars. Other hotels and casinos having nightly events for every day of the competitions are: the MGM, The Orleans Hotel and Casino, Silverton, the Mirage, and Treasure Island, who all are also having free admission events with free live music.

More one-off events surrounding the WNFR championship competitions include the PRCA Annual Awards Banquet the day before the events kick off on December first. The PRCA Awards Banquet honors the best of the best from within the Association that is voted on by the members. This event will join members and fans to gather and enjoy a nice dinner and congratulate the year's top selected personnel and celebrate the year's achievements all in one night. This event takes place at the South Point Hotel and Casino. Another event at the South Point Hotel and Casino is the official kickoff party for the WNFR competition that takes place after the award ceremony and features free live music from Kolby Cooper.

The WNFR in 2021 will be an event to remember as it returns to Las Vegas after a one-year hiatus when it took place in Arlington, Texas in 2020. The cowboys, cowgirls, and fans are excited to have it back in Sin City where they can enjoy a nice and big venue in the Thomas & Mack Center and also take advantage of all of the nightlife and events that the city, hotels, and casinos will be putting on. The riders will be in close competition heading into the WNFR so fans will have a lot to cheer for come the time of the events. Even if you are only able to attend a couple of events or none at all, the scene in Las Vegas during the 10 days of the WNFR will be an environment that can be enjoyed by all fans.