For the first time since 2005, money won at the Calgary (Alberta) Stampede will count toward the world standings and for qualifications to the National Finals Rodeo beginning this year.
The Stampede and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association announced their new partnership. For years, Calgary’s rodeo was associated with the PRCA, but that changed 15 years ago. The Stampede opted to be a stand-alone, invitation-only event, according to a story written by longtime rodeo journalist Joe Kusek in November 2005.
With the new partnership, money won at the Calgary Stampede by PRCA cowboys will count toward the world standings. How that money will be counted remains to be seen. Like The American, which will have its seventh edition this weekend, Calgary winners pocket $100,000. Only $50,000 of that prize from The American counts toward the world standings.
That’s been the case for several years with the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, which has included Calgary earnings in its world standings. Jean Winters pocketed the top prize in 2013 and earned her only NFR bid that season; she entered the NFR with $69,847, so her Calgary take carried her to Vegas that season.
This year’s Stampede also will feature team roping, the first time since its inception in 1912. According to a story by Chelsea Shaffer of the Team Roping Journal, team roping will not be part of the rodeo performances. The organizers will conduct team roping after the July 7 performance, and it will feature two preliminary rounds and a championship round. For more information, read Shaffer’s story HERE.
The Stampede will continue to invite competitors through a qualification process, the PRCA’s release stated. It will allow contestants at the top of their game to receive a spot in the field. All invited athletes must have a PRCA membership.
That’s not always been the case. In recent years, the field of bull riders featured a healthy dose of cowboys who ride strictly in the Professional Bull Riders ranks and did not possess PRCA cards.
The Calgary Stampede also will be broadcast live on the Cowboy Channel, as has been the case for many top rodeos in the PRCA in 2020.