Like all professional sports, rodeo is a combination of both. Fans are drawn to the competitive nature of sports, the drive to excel athletically over an opponent, whether that’s a Seahawks’ enthusiast cheering for Seattle to win the Lombardi Trophy or an old cowboy in New Mexico hoping Stetson Wright adds to his collection of Montana Silversmiths gold buckles.
But there is a delightful tone to sports. There’s a reason why the Oklahoma City Thunder has dance teams, why there are Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and why there’s an elaborate Super Bowl halftime show. There are hotdog races at major league ballparks and members of the audience getting a chance at big money by sinking a half-court shot at college basketball games.
Tom Brady earns $37.5 million as an on-air talent during football games. He works, in essence, 20 weeks a year, which breaks down to $1.875 million per game. Why? Because his pedigree of seven world championships lends credence to his analysis during a game. It’s entertainment as he converses with play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt throughout every broadcast.
In rodeo, there are plenty of sideshow pieces to accentuate the competition, from rodeo clowns to public-address announcers to specialty acts. It’s a proven commodity that’s been tested over time. Well-produced rodeos feature seamless transitions from bareback riding to steer wrestling and eventually to bull riding.
Video replay has played a big role helping keep an audience captivated. It started 43 years ago at Houston’s Astrodome, and other stadiums started picking it up from there. The Gund Arena in Cleveland or the Met Center in Minneapolis have utilized them since the 1980s. Rodeo began utilizing replay more in the early to mid-2000s.
Video boards are just another topping that is the pizza of sports. It provides more interaction between teams and fans, whether it’s a QR code sending viewers to a poll on screen or the “Kiss Cam.”
Rodeo exemplifies a crowd’s experience because of variety of events and man-vs.-beast mentality of the game. It shows a magnitude of athleticism, from a bull rider countering the G-force on top of a 1,600-pound bucking machine to a tie-down roper scurrying down the line to the calf or the muscles expanding when a world champion bucking bronc displays its raw power in competition.
When it’s folded together into a two-hour performance, rodeo is entertainment at its finest.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
