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\tBy HOWARD STUTZ
\n\tLAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
\n\tThe National Finals Rodeo will remain in Las Vegas through 2024 after Las Vegas Events and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association reached agreement on a new 10-year contract Friday.<\/p>\n
\tThe agreement ends a flirtation by the PRCA, the sanctioning body that oversees the NFR, with Orlando and Dallas.<\/p>\n
\tBoth cities had been looking to grab the 10-day event \u2014 considered the Super Bowl of rodeos \u2014away from Las Vegas, where it has been held for 29 years.<\/p>\n
\tIn December, Osceola County Commissioners near Orlando in Central Florida held a rare Sunday meeting to approve an NFR bid that offered about $10 million more in prize money to than what Las Vegas Events offered.<\/p>\n
\tIn Dallas, Mark Cuban, owner of NBA\u2019s Dallas Mavericks, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry expressed interest in having the rodeo move to the Lone Star State.<\/p>\n
\tOfficials in Orlando and Dallas were informed of the new contract with Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIn a way, we\u2019re not too surprised,\u201d Osceola County Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins said Friday. \u201cWe knew the PRCA was going to continue to work with Las Vegas, and we knew there was a long relationship there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAfter more than a month of negotiations, which included representatives of Strip casinos and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, a deal was reached. Last week, the PRCA submitted a counteroffer to Las Vegas Events.<\/p>\n
\tThe boards of both Las Vegas Events and the PRCA voted unanimously to accept the new deal.<\/p>\n
\tLosing the rodeo, which pumps $60 million a year into the local economy at a time when tourism slows in early December, would have been a major blow to Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cSince 1985, more than 1 million visitors have traveled to the world\u2019s premier destination to experience the energy and excitement of two great brands \u2013 Las Vegas and NFR,\u201d Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President Rossi Ralenkotter said in a statement. \u201cThis new agreement will ensure NFR and its loyal fans will be back to Las Vegas for another decade of unrivaled experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tPer the agreement, Las Vegas Events will guarantee $16.5 million annually in purse and sponsorship for the NFR.<\/p>\n
\tFrom 2015 through 2019 the contestant purse will be $10 million, while stock contractors will receive $3 million annually. The contestants will be guaranteed $10,000 each year, which will not be offset by contestant winnings. From 2020 through 2024 there will be cost-of-living increases to each purse and guarantee.<\/p>\n
\tThe agreement takes effect following the 2014 NFR.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPerhaps the best aspect of this agreement is that it benefits every PRCA member \u2013 contestants, stock contractors, committees and contract personnel,\u201d PRCA Chairman Keith Martin said in a statement. \u201cThere is an investment here to advance the PRCA\u2019s circuit system and help the sport continue to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe offers from Osceola County and Dallas included a $6.2 million purse for the NFR cowboys.<\/p>\n
\tHawkins said the only drawback to his county\u2019s offer was that a 24,000-seat arena to house the rodeo would have to be built. In the interim, the NFR would have been held for a year in Orlando\u2019s downtown basketball arena that houses the NBA\u2019s Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n
\tThe NFR has been held at the Thomas & Mack Center since Las Vegas drew the event away from Oklahoma City. A new stadium at UNLV has been pitched as a potential home for the rodeo, which would help increase attendance.<\/p>\n
\tAdditional elements of the new agreement include a season-long sponsorship program with the PRCA, presenting sponsorships of the National Circuit Finals Rodeo and 12 Circuit Final Rodeos, as well as the National Finals Steer Roping, if it is held in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\tLas Vegas Events Chairman Bill McBeath said the city and PRCA have built a \u201cstrong partnership\u201d which has allowed the rodeo to grow over they years.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis new agreement clearly demonstrates the commitment that Las Vegas has to the PRCA, to the overall growth of the sport of rodeo and to the contestants,\u201d McBeath said.<\/p>\n
\tThe NFR has sold out 270 consecutive performances and attracts the top 15 contestants in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing and bull riding.<\/p>\n
\tLast year\u2019s event had a total attendance of 176,558 over the 10 days, resulting in a non-gaming economic impact of $87.9 million for Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\tIn 2014, the NFR will run from Dec. 4 through 13 at the Thomas & Mack Center.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By HOWARD STUTZ LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL The National Finals Rodeo will remain in Las Vegas through 2024 after Las Vegas Events and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association reached agreement on a new 10-year contract Friday. The agreement ends a flirtation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}