By Carolyn Ward
The city of Las Vegas transforms into a cowboy town each December, drawing the most talented cowboys and cowgirls, livestock, and contractors, to compete at the “Super Bowl” of all rodeo events — the National Finals Rodeo (“NFR”). This year, however, may be the last that many fans see of some of the top competitors in Sin City if the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (“PRCA”) has its way.
Since its origin in 1936, the PRCA has continued to gain market dominance over the sport of rodeo. Currently, it is the highest-paying, most wide-spread American rodeo organization in the world, sanctioning rodeos in 37 U.S. States and 3 Canadian provinces. To compete in the most lucrative rodeos of the year, which include prominent tour stops in cities ranging from Houston, Texas to Cheyenne, Wyoming, contestant must hold a PRCA permit. To qualify for a permit, an individual must be of legal age, submit an application, ad pay an application fee.
Every year, the top 15 highest-earning competitors in each respective event — calf roping, team roping, barrel racing, to name a few — qualify for a chance to compete at the NFR. By the end of 10 go-rounds, a new champion is named, deeming him or her the best in their craft after a long season on the rodeo road. Of all the cowboys to ever compete, the most winning is Trevor Brazile, a 21-time world champion.
Brazile’s impressive resume does not just illustrate his understanding of how to win at the sport of rodeo, but it also depicts a deeper understanding of what it takes to compete in the first place. Rodeo is not just an individual sport — in order to compete successfully, many of the top athletes require multiple horses, as well. In order to maximize earnings to qualify for the NFR, many people are on the road constantly from January through July, driving from Denver to San Antonio and everywhere in between, to go to as many PRCA sanctioned events as possible. The travel equipment, fuel expenses, entry fees, and vet bills, however, are to many contestants mere incidentals in comparison to the time spent away from home. Many of Brazile’s colleagues, including two-time world champion Clay Tryan, four-time world champion Kaycee Field, and four-time world champion Bobby Mote, would likely agree that it takes a lot to be competitive in the field.
In an attempt to broaden the competitive rodeo market, Brazile and 51 of the other top rodeo athletes established Elite Rodeo Association (“ERA”) as a platform for the world of professional rodeo. Unlike other professional sports, rodeo, outside of the NFR, has minimal broadcasting and sponsorship contracts. Further, the purses of some of the sports biggest events, contrasted with comparable events in golf and other individual sports, makes the payback of PRCA rodeos look minimal. By creating a “League of Champions,” hosting its World Championship event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas (the stage of some of the worlds largest sporting events), the ERA was able to negotiate a multi-year contract with FoxSports to bring attention to the sport and add money to each event. Starting in 2016, the ten best competitors in each event will compete in fifteen regular season rodeos, broadcast on over 42 hours of programming, thus creating the “largest household network audience” in all of professional rodeo. The ERA, in effect, is working to put rodeo on a level playing field with today’s other major league sports.
The PRCA caught wind of the new association when Brazile, Tryan, Fields, and Mote all announced they would not be attending as many PRCA rodeos this season in attempt to focus on their new organization. Viewing the loss of some of the top cowboys at the larger PRCA rodeo’s as a significant detriment to the business model, the PRCA added restrictive language to its updated bylaws, prohibiting any “officer, board member, employee or [shareholder] in a Conflicting Rodeo Association” from being issued a “membership, permit, or renewal of membership with the PRCA.” If imposed, this restriction would prevent a majority of the cowboys and cowgirls currently competing in Las Vegas from going back next season, and would open up the NFR to a whole new caliber of contestants.
Just two weeks before leaving for Las Vegas, Brazile and his colleagues, on behalf of themselves, the Elite Rodeo Association, and future Elite Rodeo Association members, filed a complaint for anticompetitive action on the part of the PRCA. Specifically, the complaint alleged “unfair and illegal bylaws” with the new governing language passed by the PRCA. Fortunately for the ERA, this is not the first time the PRCA has been challenged on similar grounds for attempting to maintain monopoly power over the professional rodeo industry. Other organizations, such as the Professional Bullriders Association, have also taken issue with the PRCA’s reign of control. If a court views this action in a similar light to how other courts have viewed previous allegations, then the cowboys of the ERA will likely be looking at more than just another world championship victory in their futures.
Ward is pursuing her J.D. at The University of North Carolina School of Law.
