New and improved
A new rodeo format makes its debut at this year's National Western Rodeo in Denver. Article by Kati Christensen. Photos courtesy of National Western.

*Whether or not you follow rodeo religiously, it's easy to notice changes in the methods of marketing the sport is easy. The creation of the Pro Rodeo Tours, added championship events and increased television hours are just a few.

Today, professional rodeo is a mainstream sport with rising stars and household names. And, its shows concentrate more on keeping the audience entertained as they exhibit the Western way of life.

Enter the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo. Consistently a top performer on Pro Rodeo's list of best events, the newly-formatted, Denver-based show is taking the lead in presenting a quality show full of the business' biggest names and more prize money than ever before.

"Our new format has the top hands, the top contenders competing in every performance," said Marvin Witt, National Western vice president of operations. "We're almost a replication of the Wrangler National Finals."

"The Denver Plan"

The National Western Rodeo has kicked off the professional rodeo season since 1931. The first major rodeo of the new year, the National Western is consistently overrun with cowboys from every corner of the globe - all with the idea that a win in Denver could propel them to a world championship.

"Denver has always been a very popular rodeo at which to compete," Witt said. "It's the first major rodeo after the Wrangler® National Finals Rodeo, and it's a time of year when everyone's got some coins in their pockets to pay entry fees."

Prior to last year, cowboys qualified to compete at the National Western through a complex system of formulas designed to enter top contestants from the current and previous years' standings into the nation's best rodeos.

During this time, the National Western held two days of slack, overflow competition for contestants who don't fit into the limited number of spots available during rodeo performances. Nearly 1,000 contestants had the opportunity to take part in the first major rodeo of the year.

"With (the former qualification and slack system) world champion tie-down ropers Cody Ohl and Fred Whitfield could compete in slack and win the go-round, but nobody got to watch the runs," Witt said. "Without anybody in the stands, rodeo was having a hard time creating superstars for people to follow."

But things changed in 2003. In an attempt to develop bigger names and satisfy rodeo fans, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association adopted a program that allowed rodeos to increase the purse in order to reduce the number of cowboys able to compete in the rodeo. The theory would eliminate slack and place rodeo's best athletes in front of the crowds at each performance.

After a short-lived attempt at the new qualification plan turned sour, PRCA scrapped the rule within the first few months. Unfortunately, National Western had already fallen out of favor with the contestants and was badly in need of a new system.

"The 2003 approach was good in theory. It put the top cowboys in front of the public during the rodeo performances," Witt said. "The problem is that by eliminating slack, fewer cowboys had the opportunity to garner a spot in Denver. And, when you have less numbers in slack, you have less people contributing to the overall pot, and paychecks are quite a bit smaller."

With help from PRCA administration, a concept developed that would keep the sport's stars in front of the public while raising the prize money and allowing every cowboy an opportunity to qualify for the National Western.

The plan works like this. The top 35 timed-event cowboys from the 2003 standings and the top seven from the Mountain States Circuit standings, which includes Wyoming and Colorado, are automatically seeded into the National Western Rodeo. Everyone else has to compete in slack, held the week prior to the rodeo, to qualify. The 42 fastest times from slack's tie-down roping, steer wrestling and team roping move on to compete in the rodeo performances at the National Western.

"The idea behind what I call the 'Denver Plan' is to make sure we get the top timed-event cowboys at each of the rodeo performances, and that we give the local cowboys and cowboys across the country an opportunity to gain a spot in Denver," Witt said. "This way, we have the best of all worlds."

In addition to opening up the qualifying standards, National Western upped the prize money in each event by $5,000. Then, they opted to add a portion of the slack entry fees to the total purse for the rodeo performances. Another portion of those fees will be paid back to the average winners from the slack go-rounds.

"It's the first time anything like this has been done," said PRCA co-director of rodeo administration Jim Nichols. "It's a win-win situation for the committee and the public, and with part of the contestants' fees from slack going to the performances, it helps increase your overall prize money."

It's easy to see that the combination of top athletes and bigger bucks makes rodeo easier to sell to National Western fans. But it's also positive for the sport's sponsors.

"We're putting out a quality product," Witt said, adding that now more sponsors are using top cowboys as spokesmen for their products. "We're creating leaders with which people can identify, and that's great for the industry."

Bump in the road

All in all, it's a concept that seems to satisfy everyone - committees, fans and sponsors. However, regardless of the open qualification and the increased prize money, the system isn't such an easy sell to the contestants.

"With slack a week before the actual rodeo starts, the contestants are going to have to make two trips to Denver," Nichols said. "For some, it's the economic feasibility of making that happen.

"We always say, 'the cheapest things in rodeo are the entry fees,' and that's the truth with diesel priced at $1.60 per gallon," Nichols added.

On top of the financial drawbacks, some of the contestants would prefer to compete on an even playing field, thereby, forcing everyone to compete in the qualifier and doing away with the 42 seeded positions.

"Without seeding the top contenders, you take the chance of not getting your world champions into the rodeo, if they don't compete well during slack," Nichols said. "I'm of the opinion you need world champions in the performance."

Still, the question remains if contestants who live in other parts of the country will be willing to make a trip for both the qualifier and the rodeo.

"Will the guys from California and Texas make two trips to Denver," Nichols asked. "I'm banking on them doing it."

*Whether the National Western's new system is a viable option for more rodeos in the future remains to be seen. With fewer shows operating in January, earning a spot in a major rodeo at the last minute isn't a key concern.

"Denver's plan is something that will work in the winter and spring of the year when cowboys aren't entering as many rodeos," Nichols said. "It's not something that could catch on for summer."

With all this, the National Western administration remains focused on the logic and is upbeat about the experimental nature of their qualification system.

"This is a break from the traditional rules. It's a trial and error deal, but I think more rodeos are going to be given this option" Witt said. "It's every rodeo's obligation to put the best athletes in front of the audience every time there's a paid performance. That's our job."

Cutlines:
1. Tie-down roping world champion Fred Whitfield is a perennial performer at the National Western Rodeo. Thanks to Denver's new qualification system, rodeo stars like him will be featured during each rodeo performance. Photo by Dan Hubbell.

2. For the first time in National Western history, the steer wrestling field will be open to all PRCA members, including Mountain States Circuit cowboys like Les Shepperson of Midwest, Wyo. Photo by Dan Hubbell.

3. Denver's new qualification format ensures Wrangler® National Finals Rodeo qualifiers like team ropers Kevin Stewart and Martin Lucero will compete in ticketed rodeo performances. Photo by Dan Hubbell.