As if it wasn’t already tough enough trying to make a go as a professional cowboy or cowgirl, go ahead and toss a global pandemic into the rodeo ring.
On Wednesday, COVID-19 officially reined in the 47th Canadian Finals Rodeo , which was set to open the chutes Nov. 3-8 in Red Deer.
It was a million-dollar decision, as far as CFR prize money typically goes, that wasn’t taken lightly by organizers in the city or the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, especially after following a long line of cancellations in qualifying rodeos along the way.
“It is a big deal. For the first time in the history of the CFR, it won’t be held,” said Mike Olesen, CEO of Westerner Park, the new home to the event that which has held the event the past two years since it rode off into the sunset out of Edmonton for the first time.
Olesen said that figure jumps to $37 million when considering the economic impact the six-day event brings to the region as 43,000 spectators come to see 100 of rodeo’s top athletes in the world battle over buckles.
“We’re unfortunately just another notch in the belt of the impacts of COVID,” Olesen said. “It’s tough.”
And while other pro sports are putting plans in place to perform to empty arenas, any such notion to make that fly for the CFR didn’t last eight seconds.
“Financially, that doesn’t work for the event,” Olesen said. “As much as it’s a national championship, it’s as much about being a celebration of rodeo, as well. I think you take away a big part of the point if you go down that path.
“And I think the other part you’ve got to consider is what does qualification look like this year?”
While no rodeos north of the 49th means no rankings on the way to the Canadian finals, it has also meant no money in the pockets of the competitors along the way.
“We’re not above anybody else in Canada right now. Everybody’s sacrificed for the greater good and trying to band together to get this thing under control and hopefully have a quick return to some sort of normalcy sooner than later,” said Chance Butterfield, a third-generation cowboy who, when he isn’t steer wrestling, is running horses on a section north of Ponoka. “Sports are great, that’s what brings our community together. But these small businesses and large corporations, they’re a big booster for rodeos, so we don’t want to put any more pressure on them financially by hosting these rodeos when we could just take this year off, let them recover and then come back in a better financial position next year.”
But that hasn’t made it any easier on the rodeoers in the meantime.
“All of us were getting horses legged up and starting to practise, getting sharp and getting ready for a season and everything got put on hold before we could even have our first one,” said Butterfield, adding some rodeos are still taking place in the U.S., where the National Finals Rodeo is set to go ahead once again in Las Vegas from Dec. 3-12. “Now that things have lifted, we’ve actually had a couple of little jackpots just to stay competitive, still following the social-distancing guidelines set up by Alberta Health Services.
“But, yeah, it’s completely stalled. I have never in my career taken a summer off since I was about 16 years old. This is the first, I’m 34 now.”
And Wednesday’s announcement hasn’t caught anyone off guard.
“It’s definitely not a surprise, we’ve been talking about this here for quite a while,” Buttefield said, “Calgary is a world-class rodeo, and I think when Calgary and Ponoka decided to call it good, everybody else kind of fell into place.
“This is new territory, it’s completely unprecedented in our lifetime. Hopefully COVID gets under control and we’re actually able to have a season here next year.”
It’s going on three years since the CFR uprooted from Northlands Park in Edmonton, where the event had been held at the end of every previous season since its inception in 1974. And whether the grass is, in fact, greener on the other side doesn’t seem to make as much of a difference when you’re sport is played on dirt.
“Actually, Red Deer went pretty good,” Butterfield said. “Obviously, there’s a difference in seating, but I think they did a great job with the production, they’ve treated the cowboys really well. Red Deer seems to want it, so I think it’s in great hands here right now.
“I was lucky enough to compete in Edmonton the last year (2017). Edmonton’s always going to seem like the home of the CFR for me because I’ve been there my entire life watching my parents compete there at the CFR and then I was able to compete there myself. But I think Red Deer’s doing a good job with it, they’re eager to have it and the city loves it.”
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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