Vegas Was Back

VEGAS IS THE RIGHTFUL HOME OF THE WRANGLER NATIONAL FINALS RODEO® AND A TRIUMPHANT RETURN IN 2021 HAD EVERYONE BUZZING.

BY PATRICK EVERSON

SURROUNDED BY A GAGGLE OF RODEO

reporters, Kaycee Feild tried to keep his emotions in check after clinching his record sixth bareback riding world championship at the 2021 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

There was talk throughout Wrangler NFR week that Feild might call it a career, and it was clearly going through his head as he fielded questions. Several of his responses inferred that the 34-year-old was thinking about what’s next in his life.

But much like every other NFR contestant over those 10 days at the Thomas & Mack Center, he couldn’t help but comment on the event’s return to Las Vegas, as well. That was as special as any other part of his week – having the NFR back in its rightful home, after a one-year move to the Dallas area due to the pandemic.

“Doing this back in Vegas is something awesome,” Feild said. “The energy here is something special, and you don’t get it anywhere else.”

As it turns out, Feild later decided he’s going to ride at least one more year, so he might very well be back in Vegas in December 2022. The point remains: When it comes to the NFR, there’s no place like Las Vegas.

All week long, contestants, NFR officials and, most of all, rodeo fans never stopped raving about the return of the Vegas vibe. Even before the NFR started, the night before Round 1 at the Downtown Hoedown, visitors from far and wide were amped up to be back in town.

“We missed this tremendously,” said Nicole Trujillo, a nurse from Albuquerque, N.M, who traveled with husband Alex for their second Vegas NFR, after attending in 2019. “When you see these people, you see the excitement in their eyes. It lights up the world.”

Added Alex: “Dallas doesn’t have the same atmosphere or environment as Vegas. Vegas never left, and we’re just glad the NFR is back here.”

Alex thought the Vegas scene might still have a little COVID hangover. But that wasn’t the case at the Hoedown, nor the entire 10 days of the rodeo, all around the city.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 10. I was really surprised,” Alex said.

Las Vegas Events President Pat Christenson, whose fingerprints have been all over the Wrangler NFR since it moved to Vegas in 1985, understood the importance of this event returning to town. It’s a massive boost for the Vegas economy, of course, but it’s also what the contestants and fans most look forward to each December.

“It is a relief to be back from COVID,” Christenson said, noting the party was bigger and better than ever. “The fact that we really had two years to plan for this has given us the opportunity to make really hundreds of small improvements and dozens of major improvements. Fans saw those improvements all around the city, not just at the Thomas & Mack Center. When we do this

Kaycee Feild won in a Vegas return, just like his father in 1985

event, it’s a festival. There are more than 70 concerts, 22 viewing parties and then everything else Vegas has to offer.”

Ah yes, the viewing parties. That’s where one really found out just how happy people are to be back in Las Vegas during the NFR. From the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center to multiple points on the Las Vegas Strip, and of course to cowboy/cowgirl HQ at the South Point, it was a raucous time all 10 nights.

“You’ve got the real grit and heartbeat of America right here,” said Shawn Rafftery, while hanging out at the Events Center with a group of Minnesotans for the second go-round. “I’m sure glad to be back in Vegas. Not to ditch Texas, but Vegas is better.” “Pretty amazing and it is easy to see that the sponsors and the Vegas hotels back the NFR extensively,” said Marty VanDenEykel, one of Rafftery’s traveling companions. “They create a country and rodeo theme. As guys who work hard for a living, we were just talking about how this is a lot of hard work to create, to put something together like this. They did a good job.” A few miles down Las Vegas Boulevard at the South Point, the nightly viewing party – followed by the nightly go-round buckle awards presentation –had the showroom packed and rocking each night during the NFR. Brandy Marquez of Lakeside, Calif., said she’s an NFR regular when it’s in Vegas – and even during the 2020 NFR, when it was held in Arlington, Texas.

“DOING THIS “I was here in Vegas when they were in Texas,” Marquez said. “It’s just BACK IN VEGAS IS AWESOME. THE not December without Vegas and the NFR. Oh my God, I missed it so much last year. Being able to watch it here in

ENERGY HERE IS SOMETHING Vegas is amazing. The energy in this room is great. We can all be ourselves and enjoy it.” SPECIAL, AND YOU DON’T GET THAT All that said, the most difficult element of the NFR to replicate is that atmosphere at the Thomas & Mack ANYWHERE ELSE.” – Kaycee Feild, 6-time bareback world champion Center, packed with 17,000-plus rodeo diehards every night. The contestants saw, heard and felt the difference. And they responded.

“I’d be thrilled to go anywhere to compete in the NFR, but with that said, I’m very excited to be back in Las Vegas,” said three-time world champion barrel racer Hailey Kinsel. “The energy at the Thomas & Mack is just different. It’s been in Vegas for so long. That known factor is exciting and kind of just gives you jitters, the good kind. Making 10 runs in the Thomas & Mack, that is the most exciting time you have, making barrel runs in that venue.”

As first-year NFR general manager Allen Rheinheimer succinctly put it: “If you’re bored in Vegas during the NFR, you’re really not trying!”

See you in 2022 in Vegas, HOME of the Wrangler NFR and all that goes along with it. NFR REWIND 2022

Viewing parties in Downtown were, once again, a fan favorite

The tip of the Resistol by competitors had special meaning in 2021

JOHN PLUMMER, TOP. STEVE SPATAFORE, BOTTOM. PHOTOS: 29