It Takes a TEAM
Before the first horse bucks in the Thomas and Mack Center at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, a dedicated team has been carefully planning and diligently working to ensure that the NFR is the absolute best, most exciting rodeo in the world.
That effort continues through the 10 nights of competition. There are pre-rodeo and post-rodeo production meetings, meetings within groups of core personnel, and careful, critical analysis of each performance. Then shortly after this year’s NFR is over, the planning and preparation begin again.
The seamless and exciting production that fans enjoy couldn’t happen without that effort. With cooperation from the NFR committee, Las Vegas Events, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association and the hundreds of people involved, the production is designed to be the best.
The Thomas and Mack Center has been home to the NFR since it moved to Las Vegas in 1985. Through the past 33 years, the rodeo has boasted over 300 consecutive sellouts. That has required a lot of work on a variety of fronts. General manager Shawn Davis has been at the helm since 1986 and is turning the reins over to Boyd Polhamus.
“A lot of people work very hard to make this happen, and a good percentage of them have been there for decades,” Davis said of his team. “Nobody knows that they’re there, and that’s the way it should be. The work that goes on behind the scenes is incredible and the people that accomplish those tasks are the unsung heroes of the rodeo.”
Preparations on the University of Nevada—Las Vegas campus begin at the Intramural Fields. Those are turned into places to house the world’s best animal athletes, with Davis’ crew putting up stalls for the timed-event horses and building pens for the bucking stock and timed-event cattle.
The next step in the process involves the Thomas and Mack Center. As soon as the basketball game is over December 1, the floor is removed and prepared for the dirt to move in. Then, the setup crew erects the bucking chutes, the timed-event chute, roping box and arena. There is plenty of preparation outside of the arena as well.
Locker rooms are allocated for roughstock contestants. This is the only rodeo they go to all year where they aren’t packing their gear bags in and out. Instead, they get to stay in one place for 10 nights. There are rooms for security staff, video replay and television crew, stock contractors, secretaries and judges and one of the most important of all, the Justin Sportsmedicine Team.
Down by the timed-event end of the arena, around the outside of the building is a practice gym that is converted and utilized as a headquarters for the various media covering the event with interview and hospitality areas.
The construction and maintenance crew for the NFR has 12 people who are responsible for taking care of the arena. After set up, they hang banners and make sure everything is working properly and is clean before each performance. They are also responsible for one of rodeo’s most important elements—the dirt. The playing surface affects all the rodeo athletes, both human and animal, and keeping it in top condition requires expertise and diligence.
During the rodeo, eight men work at the rough-stock end of the arena with nine more at the timed-event end. They stay busy loading stock, watching gates and picking up flank straps from the arena.
The security detail is one of the most important segments of the NFR team. Keeping fans, contestants and personnel safe is a big priority that involves 39 people inside the building. Another 14 keep watch on animals and other assets outside the building. And of course, at an animalfriendly event, they also welcome and utilize bomb-sniffing dogs.
During each performance, fans see young women riding 24 horses as they present sponsor flags, with ground personnel organizing and switching flags. Some of those horses carry pivot riders for the signature grand entry where contestants (all but bareback riders) ride in on horseback following their state’s flag. The crew to care for these horses adds another 11 people to the staff.
The Justin Sportsmedicine Team has a rotating roster of doctors, athletic trainers and physical therapists. Local doctors volunteer and are valuable assets as they have relationships with area medical facilities in the event of a traumatic injury. And, there is always an ambulance at the ready along with a full complement of EMTs hoping they get to sit back and enjoy the rodeo.
Four veterinarians from Desert Pines Equine Medical and Surgical Center are on site to see to the needs of the animal athletes. Additionally, 11 people work throughout the day caring for all the horses, bulls and timed-event cattle.
There are about 50 members of the PRCA and WPRA staff who also have big responsibilities during the NFR. Their duties range from entertaining sponsors and dignitaries to giving behind-the-scenes tours to managing the press room, and are completed seamlessly. Plus, the television production crew and many others all contribute to the final production, too.
When it comes to the competition, one of the most important jobs belongs to the judges and officials. With $10 million in prize money at stake, they have a huge responsibility. The judging system at the NFR is unlike any other, with 14 officials
working together to score rides, set the timed event barriers, check the cattle, flag the timed events, draw the animals for the competitors and assure that all the rules are followed.
There are three timers who use their skills to start the eight-second clock in the bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding and stop the clock in the steer wrestling, team roping and tie-down roping. They also provide backup times and reset the electronic timers in the barrel racing. The judges and timers all pass information on to a scoreboard crew that updates the screens to keep fans informed.
And then, there is the ever-important rodeo secretary. This year, as she has for the last 12, Sunni Deb Backstrom will have that duty. This is the 16th time that she has held the title and again, to set the NFR apart from other rodeos, she has a team of people to complete the various tasks necessary.
Like at many other rodeos, the secretary often goes unnoticed. But she is the goto person for committees, contestants, judges, stock contractors and more. At the NFR, Backstrom’s days start early and end late. She is responsible for keeping track of times and scores and making sure the contestants are paid correctly. The secretary monitors and logs the animals that the judges draw for the contestants. She adds up scores and consults with judges should there be a discrepancy.
Information for the daily sheet that lists the details of the nightly competition all comes from her office. Results that are distributed to the media, posted online and used to determine world championships start with her.
“It’s easy to think it’s just another rodeo,” Backstrom says. “But, when you get in that office and remember what is at stake, it brings it to a whole new level.”
Most of these people never get to see the action live; instead, they watch it on a monitor. Only a handful of those get to see the whole production. They focus on providing the best opportunity for the contestants and livestock and putting on an exciting show for the fans.