May 25, 2022: Fort Worth, TX and Colorado Springs, CO ---- Rural Media Group (RMG) and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) announced today they have agreed to a two-year term sheet that will provide media rights to RMG through the 2027 and 2028 season, keeping The Cowboy Channel as the official network of ProRodeo and Home of the NFR for the next 6 years. The new term sheet now also includes digital media rights for The Cowboy Channel to provide livestreaming of ProRodeo performances with access to over 650 PRCA owned and sanctioned events on its OTT platform, Cowboy Channel+, including the exclusive domestic and international streaming digital media rights for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in December.
“I want to thank Tom and the PRCA Board for this vote of confidence that takes our partnership through 2028", said Patrick Gottsch, Founder & President of Rural Media Group, Inc. “Everyone at the Cowboy Channel appreciates the unprecedented support that we have received from all the cowboys, cowgirls, rodeo committees, sponsors, and all the fans over the past two years. It is so gratifying to have everyone involved with the western industry working together, which truly is revolutionizing the sport of rodeo by bringing it on to a national platform all year long. This is only the beginning.”
The new term sheet agreement builds on RMG’s almost three-year relationship with the PRCA as the two parties first began their partnership in September 2019. Recent Nielsen numbers show The Cowboy Channel has experienced a +33% growth in audience viewing in the 1st quarter of 2022, when compared to Q1 of 2021, which reflects the growing popularity of western sports for cable television audiences across the country. The Cowboy Channel has broadcast and livestreamed well over 300 rodeo performances in 2020 and close to 600 performances in 2021. In 2022, The Cowboy Channel is on track to carry even more live rodeo with over 800 rodeo performances on the programming schedule, including ProRodeo’s Texas Swing in the first quarter of 2022 and the 100 Rodeos in 100 Days kicking off Father’s Day Weekend on June 17th.
All of these rodeo performance broadcasts are in addition to The Cowboy Channel’s exclusive broadcast of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo from Las Vegas, December 1st through 10th.
“It’s great that Rural Media Group will now be the official network of ProRodeo and the NFR through 2028,” PRCA CEO Tom Glause said. “The Cowboy Channel will broadcast more than 800 performances in 2022 and will remain a great outlet to view and livestream rodeos. This new agreement will continue to put the Western lifestyle in mainstream media and increase the fans of ProRodeo which is a win-win for everybody involved.”
Highlights of the current agreement and the new term sheet include:
- Live broadcast and digital rights to ProRodeo owned and sanctioned events
- Live coverage of the best rodeos and performances on both The Cowboy Channel and Cowboy Channel+
- RMG controls all commercial inventory in all ProRodeo programming
- Weekly one-hour television show, ProRodeo Tonight, dedicated to all things ProRodeo
- Enhanced coverage of the NFR with SkyCam and additional technology innovations
CONTACT:
Raquel Koehler
CEO of The Cowboy Channel
raquel@thecowboychannel.com
402-598-9240
ABOUT THE PRCA
The PRCA, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., is recognized as the unsurpassed leader in sanctioning the sport of professional rodeo. The PRCA’s mission is to unify membership in providing an innovative fan experience, to grow the sport of professional rodeo and provide new expanded opportunities for our membership and sponsors. Since 1986, the PRCA has paid out more than $1 billion in prize money to its contestants. The PRCA offers the best cowboys and the best rodeos, delivering the best fan experience while positively impacting our communities and embracing the spirit of the West. A membership-based organization, the PRCA sanctioned more than 840 events in 2021, and there are more than 40 million rodeo fans in the U.S. The sport’s marquee event, the National Finals Rodeo, has increased its payout to more than $10.9 million in 2022. The PRCA televises the sport’s premier events, with the world-renowned National Finals Rodeo on The Cowboy Channel and RFD-TV and streaming on the PRCA on Cowboy Channel Plus App. There were more than 600 rodeos streamed on the PRCA on Cowboy Channel Plus App in 2021. PRCA-sanctioned rodeos donate more than $40 million to local and national charities every year. For comprehensive coverage of the cowboy sport, read ProRodeo Sports News, the official publication of the PRCA. The digital PSN and daily updates of news and results can be found on the PRCA’s official website, www.prorodeo.com.
ABOUT RURAL MEDIA GROUP
Rural Media Group, Inc. is the world’s leading provider of multimedia content dedicated to the rural and Western lifestyle. With a mission of reconnecting “city with country,” RMG is the parent company of RFD-TV (52 million homes), RURAL RADIO Channel 147 on SiriusXM Radio (33 million units), The Cowboy Channel (42 million homes), and RFD-TV The Magazine. RMG networks are distributed worldwide by DBS, telco and cable systems, including DISH, DIRECTV®, Comcast, AT&T U-Verse, Mediacom, Charter Spectrum, Suddenlink, Cox, and more than 600 independent rural cable systems. Corporate headquarters are in Omaha, Nebraska; broadcast operations are in Nashville, Tennessee for RFD-TV and RURAL RADIO Channel 147 on SiriusXM Radio, and in the Fort Worth (Texas) Stockyards for The Cowboy Channel.
ABOUT THE COWBOY CHANNEL
The Cowboy Channel is the official network of ProRodeo and the first 24-hour television network totally dedicated to western sports and the western lifestyle. Headquartered in the Fort Worth Stockyards, The Cowboy Channel also features a wide variety of “live” coverage from major western events showcasing the world’s toughest and most talented cowboys and cowgirls. The network reaches 42 million homes on cable/satellite systems on Altice, Charter Spectrum, DISH, DIRECTV®, AT&T U-Verse, Cox, Comcast, Mediacom, Verizon FIOS TV, and many other rural cable systems. The Cowboy Channel can also be streamed online via The Cowboy Channel Plus at cowboychannelplus.com, DIRECTV NOW, Roku, iOS, Android, Firestick, Apple TV, and Sling TV’s Heartland Extra package. For more information, please visit thecowboychannel.com.
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