{"id":2458570,"date":"2020-05-18T20:24:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T02:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/steamboat-springs-pro-rodeo-series-cancels-2020-season\/"},"modified":"2020-05-18T20:24:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T02:24:00","slug":"steamboat-springs-pro-rodeo-series-cancels-2020-season-due-to-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/steamboat-springs-pro-rodeo-series-cancels-2020-season-due-to-virus\/","title":{"rendered":"Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series cancels 2020 season due to virus"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"686\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wireRODEO-atd-051920-1-1024x686.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wireRODEO-atd-051920-1-1024x686.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wireRODEO-atd-051920-1-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wireRODEO-atd-051920-1-768x515.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/wireRODEO-atd-051920-1.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>The Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series, which brings in cowboys and cowgirls from all over the country, is canceling its 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/strong><br \/><em>Steamboat Today file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">STEAMBOAT SPRINGS \u2014 For what could be the first time in 117 years, there will not be a rodeo in Steamboat Springs this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The 2020 Pro Rodeo Series was scheduled to bring people to the Brent Romick Arena at the Howelsen Rodeo Grounds for 10 weekends from June 19 to Aug. 22, including the Cowboys Roundup Days over the weekend of July Fourth. Series organizers announced the rodeo\u2019s cancellation Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A few weeks ago, the Steamboat Pro Rodeo board of directors thought the series would be shortened, starting on July 3 and running through the originally intended closing weekend. When July Fourth festivities began to be removed from the calendar due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, any rodeo in Steamboat looked a lot less likely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIf you can\u2019t do Fourth of July, the whole thing starts to not make financial sense,\u201d said John Shipley, board president and rodeo announcer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Another major factor in canceling the rodeo was the fact that the recently amended lodging ban in Routt County still doesn\u2019t allow for people to stay in hotels. Without hotels, people can\u2019t come in from out of town and attend the rodeo. While many locals support and attend the rodeo, relying on locals-only attendance isn\u2019t financially feasible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Even if people were allowed to attend the rodeo, it would be far fewer than usual, as 6-feet social distancing standards come into play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The rodeo, run by an all-volunteer board, aims to break even each year and tries to have a \u201crainy day\u201d fund for when more than one weekend is rained out and funds start to slip. So, a partial season, or a poorly attended season, would not be a smart investment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Additionally, sponsors have less to invest with businesses suffering due to closures invoked by COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI hate it, but it\u2019s the right thing to do for the health of our contestants, spectators, volunteers, sponsors, stock contractors, staff, and quite frankly, the whole community,\u201d Board Chairman Brent Romick said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Season ticket holders have the option to get a refund or simply push their funds toward a 2021 season pass and will be able to find more information at steamboatprorodeo.com.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Steamboat Springs was supposed to host a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, or PRCA, rodeo on July 19 and 20, but that event also has been canceled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The PRCA has an updated event schedule and will host its first rodeo in Cave Creek, Arizona, this weekend. The rodeo will not have an audience in attendance but will instead be viewable on the Cowboy Channel. The event was aided by the PRCA\u2019s Kick Open the Chutes initiative that helps jumpstart rodeos that are struggling. A rodeo viewed via the internet was briefly discussed, but ultimately, didn\u2019t catch any traction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cOur costs of performance, before sponsorship offsets anything, are pretty good-sized numbers,\u201d Shipley said. \u201cThere just wasn\u2019t a market for it. \u2026 We didn\u2019t feel like that was any kind of viable option for Steamboat Springs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While the rodeo didn\u2019t make money directly, it did attract visitors from out of town into the heart of the city where they could support small businesses. Shipley said not having a rodeo for the first time in over a century will be a huge loss to the locals as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI know some people that buy season passes and don\u2019t even go to the rodeo,\u201d Shipley said. \u201cThey just buy them so they can go down there and have barbecue every weekend. I think locally it\u2019s going to be a big hole in the social calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:sreardon@steamboatpilot.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sreardon@steamboatpilot.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/steamboat-springs-pro-rodeo-series-cancels-2020-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series, which brings in cowboys and cowgirls from all over the country, is canceling its 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Steamboat Today file photo STEAMBOAT SPRINGS \u2014 For what could be the first time in 117 years, there will not be a rodeo in Steamboat Springs this summer. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 16:20:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458570\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}