By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
One of Las Vegas’ biggest December sports events — the National Finals Rodeo — is moving to Texas for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said this on Twitter: “This year’s National Finals Rodeo will move from Las Vegas to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. This event belongs in Texas!”
The NFR is a major tourism jolt for the Las Vegas economy in December because the event is staged during a typically slow time in the hotel business between Thanksgiving and December. More than 170,000 fans pack Thomas & Mack Center for the 10-day Super Bowl of rodeos and the country’s western lifestyle and culture moves to Las Vegas the second week of December every year.
Las Vegas Events, the promoter of the NFR and the promotion arm of the public Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), issued this statement Wednesday: It is unfortunate that Las Vegas is unable to host the Wrangler NFR in 2020 with fans. We congratulate the PRCA for finding a home in 2020 that will allow fans to attend, which in turn generates prize money for the contestants. In exchange for allowing them to move their event in 2020, an extra year has been added to our contract. We look forward to hosting the Wrangler NFR in Las Vegas – December 2-11, 2021 – and continuing through 2025.
Texas has been more loose with its novel coronavirus protocols, allowing fans to attend events. But even if the NFR stayed in Las Vegas in 2020, it’s doubtful there would have been fans at Thomas & Mack because sports events in Las Vegas have not included fans this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Las Vegas, for example, there will be no fans at Las Vegas Raiders games during the NFL team’s inaugural season at Allegiant Stadium near the Strip.
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