OKLAHOMA CITY – The word has spread across rodeo circles that this weekend’s Oklahoma City ProRodeo will be the final PRCA event in the historic Jim Norick Arena at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds.

It’s just one of the reasons that nearly 500 cowboys and cowgirls put their names in the hat to be part of this exclusive field. Many will be part of the two performances set for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are available at McCoyRodeo.com.

“I was very surprised by the numbers that we’re seeing,” said Cord McCoy, an Oklahoma cowboy who will produce the two-day event via McCoy Rodeo, which he co-owns with his wife, Sara. “I think a lot of them understand that this is the final time they can compete at a ProRodeo in that arena, and they want to be part of it.”

That list of contestants includes some of the greatest stars the sport has to offer, from world champions to many-time qualifiers to the National Finals Rodeo. Being in Oklahoma City this weekend is an especially easy decision for those contestants with ties to the Sooner State. The arena will be torn down this spring and replaced by a new complex that’s under construction nearby.

“I’ve rarely missed anything that they’ve had at that arena,” said barrel racer Dona Kay Rule, a five-time NFR qualifier from Minco, Oklahoma. “I’ve worked as a secretary and assisted at a lot of the major horse shows. I don’t think I’ve ever missed a state fair for as long as I can remember.

“It’s a little hard on my heart to see it go, although I know it’ll be good for our city.”

Nostalgia plays a big part. Its first event was the 1965 NFR, which was conducted inside the then-named State Fair Arena through 1978 before moving into the Myriad Arena in downtown Oklahoma City. It had a six-year run there, so ProRodeo’s grand finale was a major deal in the state’s capital city for two decades.

In addition, Jim Norick Arena has hosted hundreds of other Western sports events over the years, from a variety of horse shows to barrel racings, team ropings, high school rodeos and the PBR. Some of the greatest competitors have nodded their heads.

“That building’s got a lot of history to it,” said Brandon McLagan, who will announce the festivities this weekend. “I’ve announced the (Better Barrel Races) World Finals there a couple of times, and I did four International Finals Rodeos there.

“That’s hallowed ground, and to know those bucking chutes from where Freckles Brown rode Tornado are directly below my feet where I’m going to be standing for the final two nights of ProRodeo in that building … I’ve got chills right now thinking about it.”

Brown, the 1962 world champion bull rider, rode Jim Shoulders’ “unrideable” bull Tornado at the 1967 NFR, then went on to win the average championship that week. It was the only time in more than 200 trips with some of the best cowboys in the business that the bull was conquered for eight seconds, and it’s just one of the many pieces of lore that will continue to live on after the final piece of rubble is removed this spring.

McLagan noted that the historical nature of this weekend’s rodeo is just one of the factors that plays into the decisions made by contestants.

“It’s going to be a great circuit rodeo,” he said of the Prairie Circuit, made up of rodeos and contestants primarily from Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. “Beyond that, there’s going to be some ballers, so to speak, that are coming to Oklahoma City.”

That includes tie-down roper Hunter Herrin, a 14-time NFR qualifier from Apache, Oklahoma.

“I’m starting a new year, and I’ve got a new horse, so I thought this would be a good place to start that horse,” said Herrin, whose first NFR was 2006. “I was going to enter with Chizm Kuykendall, but our schedules got messed up. I’m up at Fort Worth (Texas) on Sunday and Monday, so I figured Cord has a rodeo right there in Oklahoma City, it’s a circuit rodeo, and it would be a good place to start the year off.”

It’s been a good place for him over the years. Until a decade or so ago, he made sure to be in the mix during the Oklahoma State Fair Rodeo, which took place each September along with the annual exposition. He’s happy to be part of its final chapter involving the PRCA.

“Oklahoma City had a really good rodeo for a long time,” he said. “They did away with it and had some bull ridings, which is kind of sad, but I’m looking forward to being back there again. I’m glad I get to rope up there to start the new year off.”

Rule has had her own history with the sport and with events in Oklahoma City. Her husband, John Rule, made the saddles for the NFR after it had moved downtown, and she can’t count the number of runs she’s made inside Jim Norick Arena over her lifetime. She’s ready to make one more.

“There are a lot of reasons I entered that rodeo,” she said. “I love the history of that arena, and I’m so sad to see it go. I wanted to be there for the last one, and I also think so much of the McCoy family; I would like to go and support Cord. Rodeo has a big history in Oklahoma, so this is very special.

“When you see those guys in Las Vegas and you’re interested in hearing about their stories, you get a feeling for what they’ve gone through. If you dig into it, a lot of their parents, grandparents and even further back were here in Oklahoma at some point. It all started here for a lot of them.”