ATLANTIC, Iowa – ProRodeo in southwest Iowa typically means warm summer weather for fans in this part of the world.

That changes this year with the Atlantic ProRodeo, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 3-Saturday, June 4, at the Cass County Fairgrounds in Atlantic. Thanks to Oklahoma-based McCoy Rodeo, the sport’s premier athletes will make their way for two days of competition.

“When we looked into Atlantic to have a ProRodeo, I knew there was a great chance we’d find success there,” said Sara Best-McCoy, one of the co-owners of McCoy Rodeo. “I grew up there, and I know the people that live there would love to see a great rodeo. That’s just what I want us to accomplish.”

Just north of Atlantic, across Interstate 80, sits the tiny hamlet of Brayton, Iowa, a community of about 100 people. That’s where Best-McCoy grew up and what she still calls home. Twelve years ago in Atlantic, she married rodeo star Cord McCoy, who has since become a reality-TV star, too. The couple has also been in the stock contracting business for several years, raising bulls that have become big names in the PBR.

In fact, the McCoys’ Ridin Solo just won the Bull of the Year honors in the PBR, a title that shows the talented bucking animals that are part of the McCoy herd. It will be animals like Solo that will be performing at the Cass County Fairgrounds.

“I’m excited to come home for that week of the Atlantic ProRodeo,” Best-McCoy said. “I look forward to seeing my friends and my family, but I’m also excited for them and everyone else in Atlantic to see our brand of rodeo. I’m very happy with what we’ve done, and I think everyone will enjoy it.”

McCoy Rodeo is more than bucking horses and bulls, fast horses and ropers; the sport of rodeo in 2022 is about production and bringing a style of entertainment to fans beyond the competition. It’s the perfect mix of family-friendly fun and seeing great athletes in action.

The McCoys know all about that. Best-McCoy grew up showing horses and working cattle on the family’s ranch in Brayton. Cord McCoy grew up in rodeo, competing from a young age and highlighted by a National Finals Rodeo qualification and six trips to the PBR World Finals as a bull rider. Now, the McCoys are raising world championship-caliber athletes.

“My father was raised in southwest Iowa, and I’m married to a beautiful Iowa girl, so this has always been like a second home to me,” Cord McCoy said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun to return to my wife’s old stomping grounds, to be around family and to put on a PRCA rodeo in Atlantic.”