Las Vegas Events has reached a contract agreement with UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center to continue hosting the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
After 30 years as the home to the Professional Cowboys Association’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center recently extended its contract to continue hosting the event for the next 10 years. This year, the rodeo will run from Dec. 3-12.
The agreement, which took about a year to negotiate, mirrors the extension that Las Vegas Events (LVE) and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority signed with the PRCA in January 2014. That year, the event reached a record attendance level of 177,565.
“For the most part, it is the same agreement we’ve had for the past 30 years,” said Pat Christenson, president of LVE. “MGM and AEG were building a new arena, so we considered other options, but we’ve had a great partnership with UNLV and the Thomas & Mack Center.”
Along with the venue, the rodeo utilizes 20 acres of UNLV’s campus.
“There’s nothing like this facility in the country and, on top of that, it’s undergoing a modernization renovation,” said Christenson. “The fact that they commit to the event for the two weeks we’re there, the way the staff embraces it and all the new improvements made it an easy decision to extend the contract.”
The arena is undergoing a $72-million modernization that includes increased ADA seating, improved ingress/egress with additional entry points into the arena and new seats. The number of restrooms also has been increased, and new concessions stands and concourse finishes have been added. In addition, the arena will have a new escalator, concourse space and improved hospitality, with a 36,000-square-foot addition that will overlook the Las Vegas Strip.
“The renovation started last October, and we’ve been open and working around the construction,” said Mike Newcomb, Thomas & Mack Center’s executive director. “We will shut down in a couple months to replace all the seating and open back up in October, when we’ll be 75-percent complete. We will be finished with phase one in March of 2016.”
Phase two will include a 10,000-square-foot addition on the venue’s west side that incorporates a multipurpose space and 2,500-square-foot balcony overlooking the Las Vegas Strip.
Sold out for 280 consecutive performances, the Wrangler NFR attracts the top 15 contestants in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing and bull riding. Qualification is based on the 2015 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World Standings.
The prize money for the event will reach $10 million this year, an increase of almost $4 million from 2014.
“Organizations in Florida and Texas were competing for this event, since it has been very successful,” said Jim Bainbridge, senior public relations coordinator at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo. “Every performance has been sold out for the last 28 years, so as long as the money was comparable, and it was, it was an easy decision to stay in Vegas.”
Interviewed for this story: Jim Bainbridge, (719) 593-8840; Pat Christenson, (702) 260-8605; Mike Newcomb, (702) 895-1003