Sam Morris/Las Vegas News Bureau
Fans cheer on Shane Hanchey during the first go-round of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Thursday, December 5, 2019, at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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The National Finals Rodeo did a terrible disservice to Las Vegas and to its fans in moving this year’s edition of the event to Texas.
The move was all about finding a place with looser pandemic restrictions than Nevada for the NFR, which has been contested in Las Vegas since 1985. Texas being Texas, it’s taken a Wild West (read: irresponsible) attitude toward protecting its residents and controlling the virus. The Lone Star State allows 50% capacity at sporting events, while Nevada has taken the responsible path and restricted mass-attendance events.
The temporary move to Arlington, Texas, this year may be good for the bank accounts of the NFR and its competitors, but it threatens to be horrible for fans.
At 50% capacity, Arlington’s Globe Life Field would seat more than 20,000 people, who’ll be somewhat distanced in the seats but will mill around together in parking lots, on concourses, and in bars and restaurants before and after the rodeo.
It’s a mass-spreader event waiting to happen. And the NFR generally draws an all-ages crowd, including older fans who are more likely to have preexisting conditions and thus face an elevated risk of contracting a serious or fatal case of COVID-19.
This is tragic, because one option for this year was to hold the rodeo in Las Vegas with no fans in attendance. That would have protected fans while allowing them to watch the action on TV.
Moving to Texas, even if temporarily, also is a slap in the face to Las Vegas.
Even though the event is scheduled to return here in 2021, the relocation raises concerns in a city that has had to fight desperately to keep the rodeo from pulling up stakes. If the NFR can scoot boots once, will it try again?
It’s unfair to create this anxiety in Las Vegas, especially not now when our tourism economy is reeling. Our city has bent over backward to be a good home for the NFR and to make rodeo fans feel welcome here.
In normal years we throw watch parties and stage concerts up and down the Strip for fans. We created the Cowboy Christmas shopping expo to enhance the fan experience. We modernized the Thomas & Mack Center four years ago to the tune of $72.5 million.
And we did it all because Las Vegas loves the NFR, which has a soft spot in our community’s lore. You don’t have to live here long to hear the tale about how a group that included the late Benny Binion attracted the rodeo here to fill what was then a major gap in the city’s flow of tourism. Yes, there was a time when visitorship sagged in Las Vegas around the holidays, but the NFR took care of that.
Six years ago, Las Vegas had to battle to keep from losing the rodeo to Orlando or Dallas, where NFL owner Jerry Jones was attempting to land the rodeo in his then-new stadium for the Cowboys. But community leaders in Las Vegas saved the day by putting up $16.5 million in purse and sponsorship funding to lock down a 10-year contract.
Today, the event produces an estimated economic impact of upward of $180 million. Needless to say, losing it would be a major blow to Las Vegas, especially as we try to recover from the pandemic.
The good news here is that the contract still calls for the rodeo to be in Las Vegas through 2025.
But the move this year makes it feels like Nevada is being punished for doing what’s right and striving to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. It’s unfortunate the NFR chose to do that to a place that has treated the organization, the competitors and its fans so well over the years.
