San Angelo's 83-Year Love Affair with Rodeo

The 83rd annual San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo officially kicked off with the first performance last night at the Foster Communications Coliseum. This year, there are12 performances, ending with the PRCA Finals on Feb. 27, and the Cinch Chute Out on Feb. 28.

For those who are native to San Angelo, rodeo has been part of life as long as some can remember. It is a West Texas tradition. Whether or not you actually ride horses, wrestle steers, rope calves, or ride bulls, the spirit of the rodeo draws folks in every year.

“When I was rodeoing for a living, it’s always nice to get to ride in your hometown,” Casey Baise, retired professional bull rider and existing PRCA Texas Circuit Bull Riding Director said, “I think the coliseum in San Angelo holds like 5,000 people, but it sounds like 50,000 people. San Angelo has some of the greatest fans of any rodeo I’ve been to, and I’ve been to about all of them. The improvements to the rodeo we have seen throughout the last five or ten years (prize money and format) has been a great change that seems to continue to get better.” Baise is also a member of the Rodeo Committee here in San Angelo.

San Angelo has become a hot spot for rodeo over the years since its humble beginnings back in 1932. Many events have been added over the years attracting more and more competitors, making the purse size for prizes one of the largest in the nation.

“Last year San Angelo was ranked number nine on the top ten list as far as prize money goes.” Jim Bainbridge, Senior PR Coordinator for PRCA Pro Rodeo said. “This year San Angelo ranks number seven. San Angelo is an important stop for a lot of folks in the circuit.” He said.

 “I think the San Angelo Rodeo is a tremendous event.” John Ludlum, the Marketing Director of George Paul Memorial Bull Riding in Del Rio, said.

“You have an incredible number of contestants who come to your rodeo from all across the United States, Australia, and Canada, which I think is a huge economic impact on San Angelo. I think it’s not only a viable business asset, I think it’s an incredible sporting event, and I think barring injury y’all draw every current and many past world champions to your event,” Ludlum, also a longtime fan of the San Angelo Rodeo, said.

 According to Phil Neighbors, President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, the rodeo makes a huge impact on the economy in San Angelo every year.

“The direct economic impact of just the out of town folks that come in for the per day basis is right at $2.5 million,” said Neighbors. “The neat thing about the event is that the stock show is the portion that brings in the most people over the whole three-week period, because the different animals show at different times. What that creates is a very long impact.  People traveling in from the vast majority of counties, all but five or six counties in Texas send students to show at the stock show portion. So, of course, that means that parents, grandparents, and extended family members come to town during that time in support of those students.”

This year San Angelo has more hotels recently built. It is not as difficult to make a reservation, and the rooms are more affordable.

 “We continually hear from folks when they come here for the first time about how much they love it,” said Pamela Miller Vice President of Convention and Vistors Bureau.  “So the good thing about rodeo and stock show is the people that are coming in to compete that have never been here. They come in, they have a good experience, they go back to where they are from and tell their friends, suddenly they want to return, and the friends they’ve talked to want to come visit. So, word of mouth we get from new visitors and the pass on that occurs because of that is really beneficial, and it goes beyond the rodeo itself.”

You don’t have to wear boots or a Stetson hat to appreciate the rush of adrenaline you experience when that chute opens up for the first go round. Out comes the skills honed from years of practice, bucking and spinning, the fearless cowboy in tow, his free hand waving wildly as he maintains his seat on the back of a 2,000 pound snorting, raging bull, as he’s thrown just shy of perfect score. The rodeo clowns swoop in and pop out of the arena barrels to distract the bull in the nick of time, the cowboy narrowly escaping the unforgiving wrath of the bulls’ horns.

That is the stuff that gets folks addicted to rodeo and keeps them coming back for more every year.