Canadian Finals Rodeo reined in by COVID-19
As if it wasn’t already tough enough trying to make a go as a professional cowboy or cowgirl, go ahead and toss a global pandemic into the rodeo ring.
On Wednesday, COVID-19 officially reined in the 47th Canadian Finals Rodeo, which was set to open the chutes Nov. 3-8 in Red Deer.
It was a million-dollar decision, as far as CFR prize money typically goes, that wasn’t taken lightly by organizers in the city or the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, especially after following a long line of cancellations in qualifying rodeos along the way.
“It is a big deal. For the first time in the history of the CFR, it won’t be held,” said Mike Olesen, CEO of Westerner Park, home to the event for the past two years since it rode out of Edmonton.
Olesen said that figure jumps to $37 million when considering the economic impact the six-day event brings to the region as 43,000 spectators come to see 100 of rodeo’s top athletes in the world battle over buckles.
And while other pro sports are putting plans in place to perform to empty arenas, any such notion to make that fly for the CFR didn’t last eight seconds.
“Financially, that doesn’t work for the event,” Olesen said. “As much as it’s a national championship, it’s as much about being a celebration of rodeo, as well. I think you take away a big part of the point if you go down that path.”
While no rodeos north of the 49th means no rankings on the way to the Canadian finals, it has also meant no money in the pockets of the competitors along the way.
“We’re not above anybody else in Canada right now. Everybody’s sacrificed for the greater good and trying to band together to get this thing under control and hopefully have a quick return to some sort of normalcy sooner than later,” said Chance Butterfield, a third-generation cowboy.
“Sports are great, that’s what brings our community together. But these small businesses and large corporations, they’re a big booster for rodeos, so we don’t want to put any more pressure on them financially by hosting these rodeos when we could just take this year off, let them recover and then come back in a better financial position next year.
But that hasn’t made it any easier on the rodeoers.
“All of us were getting horses legged up and starting to practise, getting sharp and getting ready for a season and everything got put on hold before we could even have our first one,” said Butterfield, adding some rodeos are still taking place in the U.S., where the National Finals Rodeo is set to go ahead once again in Las Vegas from Dec. 3-12. “Now that things have lifted, we’ve actually had a couple of little jackpots just to stay competitive, still following the social-distancing guidelines set up by Alberta Health Services.