In his most recently weekly update on ProRodeo Tonight, PRCA CEO George Taylor talked to Amy Wilson about the latest ProRodeo news and developments, including the recent cancellation of the Calgary Stampede, which announced earlier this year that it would be partnering with the PRCA for the first time in 2020.
“While we were disappointed, my heart goes out to the people that were impacted. The total economic impact, if I remember correctly, for Canada is around $700 million. ... and there’s a lot of people who depend on that for their year.”
In more uplifting news, Taylor mentioned we may see rodeo as soon Memorial Day Weekend and explained the new Kick Open the Chutes initiative, established by the PRCA to answer the question, “how do we get going?”
“We’re looking to partner with PRCA rodeo committees to begin to understand what they can do to just say yes,” Taylor says. "... How can we supplement some of the things the local committees are trying to do, whether they’ve lost sponsors, their gate might be reduced substantially, or maybe we just are helping to try to give them a backstop of some additional funds. But the PRCA wants all of our committees and communities to know we are very flexible. We will work with them on the format, the number of days, but we really want to get things going.”
Click here to hear more from Georg Taylor on the latest happenings in rodeo — such as plans for the NFR, the current PRCA Digital Rodeo Tournament, and the Paycheck Protection plan.