National Finals Rodeo Attendance Hits 168,952 For 10-Day Run

By ALAN SNEL

 

Attendance for National Finals Rodeo at Thomas & Mack Center neared 170,000 for its 10-day run.

 

The official number was 168,952 for the 10 consecutive sellouts for the Super Bowl of rodeos.

 

The NFR is a major economic jolt for Las Vegas in December. Photo credit: Tom Donoghue

 

It’s a vital shot in the economic arm for the Strip, and other hotel-casinos from The D to South Point during a slower time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 

Opening night check ceremony. Photo credit: Tom Donoghue

 

The Dec. 7-16 NFR also brings hundreds of vendors to places including the Las Vegas Convention Center, South Point and Mandalay Bay.

 

The NFR brings 120 contestants vying for $10 million in prize money. Photo credit: Tom Donoghue

 

There were also 56 concerts and 37 locations that offered the NFR live feed.

 

LVSportsBiz.com also reported on big news during the NFR, such as the transfer of the rodeo’s general manager reins from Shawn Davis to Boyd Polhamus.

There will be a new general manager one day at the NFR. Photo credit: Erik John Ricardo/LVSportsBiz.com

 

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Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.