By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The 10-day National Finals Rodeo racked up an attendance count of 169,171 as the Super Bowl of rodeos wrapped up its Dec. 6-15 run at Thomas & Mack Center.
Put on by Las Vegas Events, the NFR brought a lot more than the 120 contestants who competed in the various events at the rodeo sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, which sanctions more than 600 annual rodeos.
Las Vegas Events says there were 56 concerts, 33 locations that offered the NFR’s live feed and ten days of shopping and entertainment at Cowboy Christmas, featuring more than 350 exhibitors at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Las Vegas Events President Pat Christenson said at least 60,000 people came to town to watch the NFR and attend its affiliated watch parties and shopping areas up and down the Strip. The average sold-out attendance at TMC was just a shade under 17,000 a night.
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The NFR, on its last day, competed against the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl and an exciting UNLV basketball team win over BYU at T-Mobile Arena Saturday.
This was the NFR’s 34th year in Las Vegas. More than 300 consecutive NFR performances have been sold out at TMC and the Las Vegas Events deal with the PRCA runs through 2024, with the NFR contestant purse at $10 million for 2018.
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