National Finals Rodeo at Thomas & Mack Center
The National Finals Rodeo is held at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Technically, it's located in Paradise, Nevada, an unincorporated town adjacent to Las Vegas. The arena opened in summer 1983, and its grand opening later that year featured Diana Ross, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Thomas & Mack Center's main tenants are the UNLV men's and women's basketball teams, but it has also hosted NBA games, arena football games, boxing events, UFC cards, presidential debates and Phish concerts.
The NFR presents a number of logistical hurdles for the Thomas & Mack Center. Some 2,000 tons of dirt are trucked in, not to mention 700 head of livestock and 310 head of bucking stock and other animals, all of whom will consume 60 tons of grain, 100-120 tons of hay and 70 tons of grass. Think of it as another Vegas convention, only with a lot more manure. Fans can watch the action from their seats or wander around the arena to take in the full breadth of the rodeo experience. There's food, live music, interactive activities and a glass-enclosed balcony with a view of the Las Vegas Strip.
National Finals Rodeo History
The season-ending championship event of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the National Finals Rodeo is the Super Bowl of rodeo. Held every December in Las Vegas, the NFR pits the PRCA's top 15 money-winners against each other in the standard rodeo events: Bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, WPRA barrel racing and bull riding. Two champions are named for each event. There's the average winner, who records the best cumulative score over the 10 rounds at the NFR, and there's the world champion, who finishes the season with the most money.
The first NFR was hosted by Dallas in 1959. It moved to Los Angeles, then Oklahoma and finally, in 1985, to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, where the NFR now draws nearly 200,000 fans annually over the course of the 10-day event.
