“I would say it was probably the hardest year that I've been a part of,” Thurston said. Thurston ranks 10th with $50,523 so far this season heading into Thursday's opening go-around in Arlington. He claimed $170,064 at the NFR in 2019 en route to career-high season earnings of $347,000. Thurston, 26, is the defending world champion in saddle bronc and also took the title in 2016. Qualifying at the end of the year was a sweet deal for those that made it.” “It's a good thing they're having the NFR so we actually have an NFR to go to. It was a lot harder to make money this year, a challenging year to say the least. “You can imagine how tough that makes the competition with that many guys competing. “They were getting 160, 170 steer wrestlers in some places. “Especially through July at some of the rodeos there were twice as many guys than they usually get,” Cassidy said. There have been just over 300 sanctioned rodeos in North America in 2020, compared to 732 in 2019.įewer American rodeos meant more competitors vying for prize money at each one. Results at most Canadian professional rodeos count toward world rankings, but all were cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic.Ĭanadian competitors were dependent on rodeos in the United States to earn a living. The top 15 in the world standings in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc, tie-down roping barrel racing and bull riding earn NFR invitations. Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association chief executive officer George Taylor has said the minimum payout will be $6 million, according to the organization's digital media channel. The NFR offered US$10 million in prize money each of the last six years, but is expected to pay less in 2020. Two-time saddle bronc champion Zeke Thurston of Big Valley, Alta., steer wrestler Curtis Cassidy of Donald, Alta., team roper Kolton Schmidt of Barrhead, Alta., and bareback rider Orin Larsen of Inglis, Man., also qualified in a season severely contracted by the pandemic. Simpson is among five Canadians competing in the 2020 world championship of rodeo Dec. The NFR was shifted to Texas, which allows 50 per cent spectator capacity at professional and collegiate events. Spectators were not allowed to attend an NFR in Las Vegas this year because of Nevada's public health rules around the COVID-19 pandemic. “It's going to be a whole new ball game for the team ropers,” Simpson said. The ball park is once again a COVID-19 sporting event stand-in just over a month after the Dodgers stormed the field in celebration.Īfter 36 years at the Thomas and Mack Center on the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus, the NFR opens Thursday at Globe Life. Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, served as Major League Baseball's “bubble” for the National League playoffs and October's World Series. Simpson, a team roper from Ponoka, Alta., admits it's unusual for the National Finals Rodeo to be staged in a ballpark. Levi Simpson and his horse Stetson are about to trample the turf where the Los Angeles Dodgers hoisted the World Series trophy.
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