Money is the root of all progress

By Ted Harbin
Posted Thursday, December 20, 2007

The National Finals Rodeo just ended the richest 10-day run in its 49-year history with a payout of $5.5 million.

Canadian barrel racer Lindsey Sears took the biggest chunk of dough from Las Vegas, pocketing $119,254. But there were several contestants who snared more than $100,000 during their two-week stay.

It’s a great step for the sport, and with purses going up at rodeos all across this great land, the opportunity for cowboys and cowgirls to make a significant living is growing. Sponsors are reaping the rewards of their partnerships with rodeo and its contestants, which is helping the sport’s financial growth.

This year, Trevor Brazile finished the season with $425,115 in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association earnings, surpassing his record for annual income in the association by almost $100,000.

While it’s outstanding, it’s only in the neighborhood of the Professional Bull Riders. Wiley Peterson won the PBR World Finals, and in doing so, earned $278,450. World champion Justin McBride finished the year with $836,000, but the $1 million bonus that is handed to the year-end winner pushed McBride’s earnings to nearly $2 million.

Both the PRCA and PBR have seen significant growth over the past two decades – the PBR’s being rather phenomenal. But with the increase of the ProRodeo Tour, PRCA contestants have the opportunity to see fatter wallets.

But it’s a mere pittance compared to the other sports, and everyone involved in this fabulous sport knows it. While the NFR boasted its $5.5 million purse, a golf tournament that took place over the final weekend had a $5.75 million purse. Tiger Woods won the Target World Challenge and earned $1.35 million.

What that means is in one four-day work week, Woods made three times as much money as Brazile did for the entire 2007 season. That means Woods snagged nearly as much cash in a weekend as McBride did during his record-breaking season.

It falls on television and sponsorships. Rodeo still pays for its airtime, while the PGA of America rakes in some serious money because networks battle one another for the rights to air a tournament. Great organizations like Wrangler, Justin, B&W Trailer Hitches and Montana Silversmiths put their dollars toward rodeo and bull riding. The PGA will have the Mercedes-Benz Championship, the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Buick Invitational – that’s just the January schedule.

RodeoHouston made a big deal of awarding winners in each event a $50,000 payday, which counted toward the standings. Meanwhile, 2007 Masters winner, Zach Johnson, earned $1,305,000 for his four days in Augusta. Woods, Rory Sabbatini and Retief Goosen all finished in a tie for second place, which earned them $541,333.

That’s $116,000-plus more than Brazile earned in 2007.

The figures are skewed because the sport we love is non-traditional. Sports editors and sports directors don’t see the fantastic athleticism; therefore they rarely put rodeo on the front page or lead the sportscast with it. It’s an unfortunate fact that follows a sport that was developed from the livestock industry.

But I call for a change. I call for more sponsors to recognize the fantastic athletes and fantastic storylines that follow the rodeo trail. I call for more characters to come out of the woodwork, thereby making the sport recognizable by those who don’t know a bull from a steer.

Trevor Brazile, Justin McBride, Joe Beaver, Billy Etbauer, Adriano Moraes, Wiley Peterson, Lee Graves and all the others deserve better. Elite athletes deserve the financial fallback that bemoans the entertainment value that sports has become, whether its rodeo or bull riding or basketball or NASCAR or football.

While other sports provide guarantees, cowboys and cowgirls compete without them. They pay a fee to compete, and they only reap financial rewards by doing well.

Not everybody can be like Leonard Davis, the Dallas Cowboy who is paid to protect quarterback Tony Romo and open holes for Marion Barber and Julius Jones. He signed a contract with the Cowboys that will pay him $16 million per year, which works out to be a $1 million paycheck every game day.

But just as a “big ugly” deserves his due by smashing his big body into others in order to do his job, rodeo contestants have roped and wrestled and ridden their way to becoming elite athletes. They’ve sacrificed themselves and their bank accounts in an attempt to make a living on the rodeo trail. They’ve proven their merit and their standing amongst the most talented athletes in the world.

Moreover, they deserve the types of paydays that are befitting of their prowess. It’s time for sponsors, networks and all those on the outside to realize the gem that’s been weaved in rural America.