Wait…what just happened?

I have to admit that I have been a bit distracted lately but how in the world did I miss the WCRA? I was on Facebook at the beginning of the month and picked up a live feed talking about the WCRA. I jumped on because earlier that week Bobby Mote said that he was headed to Vegas for the WCRA. I had no idea what was going on. And honestly I am not sure I know any more that I did.

According to their website

World Champions Rodeo Alliance (WCRA) is a professional sport and entertainment entity, created to develop and advance the sport of rodeo by aligning all levels of competition.

In association with Professional Bull Riders (PBR), WCRA produces major rodeo events, developing additional opportunities for the rodeo industry, athletes, stock contractors, stakeholders and fans.

This is definitely a new take on rodeo competition. The rodeo athlete can nominate any event and earn points towards making it to the 4 -$1 million major events. The main alliance is between the WCRA and the PBR . And now the IPRA has joined alliances with the WPRA. This alliance encourages their athletes to nominate all of the IPRA events to earn points as a way to get to the million dollar event. Will other sanctioning bodies encourage participation in this alliance or will territorial, or perhaps adversarial disassociation be encouraged or enforced?

I was a big fan of the idea of the Elite Rodeo Association. I felt as a spectator I had no real ability to see my favorite rodeo athletes perform more than once a year at the National Finals Rodeo. The ERA would allow me to me to buy tickets to events and know ahead of time that I would be seeing my favorites. So from my perspective it was a great addition to the PRCA. Well we all know that the PRCA governing body felt otherwise and changed bylaws to keep the ERA affiliated athletes out of the PRCA events.

So why can’t rodeo just all get along? As western sports gains mainstream popularity there is more money to be made. America is nothing if not built on capitalism. The increase in the payouts on the big events continues to grow. But when you compare the payouts among the 12 PRCA circuits there are just some places where the arena athletes will never be able to make it into the top 15 in order to compete in those large purse events like the NFR.

On the surface the WCRA will give you the opportunity to make your event count. It is a point system not a money based system. So when you nominate your event you may or may not get points towards the WCRA based on your performance. The top 6 places are awarded points. Those points are then weighted based on the level the event is deemed.

There are 4 levels of competition. This is where I am on the fence. It is not that I do not agree with the levels, but I just wonder how certain competitors will ever be able to make it into the 4 big events. Of course you cannot weigh all rodeos the same, so what makes it possible to get to the top if you are not an elite athlete with access to the level 1 events? My big question.

But the big take away I guess is that the PRCA does not feel threatened by this new entity. So there will be no long drawn out back and forth legal battle and no banning of our favorites. Also I am excited at the possibility of watching my First Frontier Circuit athletes  get a chance to compete on the national stage. 8 time PRCA gold buckle champion Fred Whitfield hopes that these opportunities will be advantageous financially to the young men and women who pour their hearts and souls into this industry.

Yes We Rodeo Big in the North……

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