Swift Current extends agreement to host CCA Finals Rodeo through to 2025
The Canadian Cowboys’ Association Finals Rodeo will be hosted in Swift Current through to 2025 after a new five-year agreement was approved to continue the CCA signature event in Swift Current.
At the August 26 Swift Current City Council meeting, council unanimously approved an extension of the partnership between the CCA, The Swift Current Ag and Ex and the City of Swift Current to put on this annual championship event.
Swift Current first hosted the CCA Finals in 2016, so this year’s Finals on October 16 to 19 will mark the fourth time the rodeo grand finale has been hosted in Swift Current.
City of Swift Current CAO Tim Marcus said that after three years of hosting the Finals Rodeo, some changes are needed to ensure the viability of the event.
“It’s a big event and it’s beneficial to a lot of the businesses in the City. And it’s beneficial to the Cowboys’ Association that they have a home for the rodeo,” Marcus said following the agreement vote by council.
“It’s very beneficial in that the hotels are full, the restaurants do very well. It’s one of the better weeks for the casino. A lot of the businesses, retail, their sales are up during that time,” Marcus added. “And it’s a good event, it’s fun to watch.”
One of the specifics of the new partnership contract spells out that the CCA would receive their money first when the event profits are paid out, followed by the Ag and Ex, and the city would be the final recipient of funds.
Marcus pointed out that if the event not financially successful, the City would have to reduce the amount they would receive for the use of their facility that year.
“The reason that’s there and not that the Cowboys’ are on the hook is we don’t want to bankrupt our partners, so that’s why that clause is there.”
This marks the second time an amendment has been made to their initial partnership contract. In the initial partnership the Ag and Ex was the final payee.
“The earlier agreement, the way it was structured was they could end up for five years volunteering to help run the rodeo and the cabaret and then receive nothing for their efforts. Which the CCA and the City realized after the way the agreement was structured it wasn’t very fair for one of the partners so it was amended,” Marcus noted.
“The updated agreement of course goes for five more years and just specifies the order of the payout, which wasn’t essentially clear in the other agreement.”
“It was just to make it fair so that as long as the City wants to continue we can have the event.”
The Finals Rodeo will remain a seven event competition, with three novice events and two junior events. The new agreement spells out that there will be 10 competitors vying for the year end championship.
“But the CCA has the right to go to 12 if they so wish. It’s really a function of their membership as to whether it’s 10 or 12.”
The driving force to extend the agreement was from the Canadian Cowboys’ Association.
“They were the ones that requested that the agreement be extended. They wanted to ensure that they have a home for the long term, and not just for two more years.”
“As you get close to the end of the agreement, without knowing it’s kind of like ‘well then, do we need to start looking for another home or not?’”
“With the amount of work it would have taken them to move the event to another place, they just wanted to make sure they could extend the agreement and not have to worry about that. So they (the CCA) initiated the request.”