On rough ride: Vegas pulls out the stops for NFR

Ed Dodrill

Monday, Dec. 1, 1997 | 11:38 a.m.

While Las Vegas never was a cow town, existing in the early days only because it was needed to supply water to the steam locomotives that crossed the Mojave Desert, it has become the December Mecca of everyone who competes, watches or earns their living in the sport of rodeo.

The National Finals Rodeo roared into Las Vegas amid fears that nobody would visit the remote desert location just before Christmas, and that the reputation of Las Vegas would keep the wholesome rodeo fans away.

While those fears were evident the first year, Las Vegas went on to become a second home to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the sanctioning body of the sport. In addition to the rodeo, the PRCA holds its annual convention and banquet in Las Vegas during finals week.

And, despite the lack of a cowboy history, Las Vegas meets all the needs of the cowboys, including plenty of inexpensive rooms, more than enough restaurants to keep the waiting short, and plenty of happy people to serve the food, clean the guest rooms and whisk the people from one event to another.

The 10 days of rodeo, Dec. 5 through 14, are held at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. With 17,000 seats, the arena readily fills up as the previous year's seatholders get the right of first refusal on next year's seats. And it is rare that someone would not pick up the option and return.

As a result, tickets to the end-of-the-year championship are harder to obtain than tickets to the World Series or the Super Bowl. City and county fathers are looking into a larger stadium for this, and other events, but the latest word is such a project is far in the future.

As the stock pens are being set up and the dirt is being placed on the floor of the arena, the country music stars who made Nashville the "Country Music Capital of the World" start setting up their drums, amplifiers and guitar stands in nearly every showroom in town.

Each year the list gets bigger, as rodeo fans are ready to party hearty when the last bull is herded into the pen.

This year the list includes Dwight Yoakam, LeAnn Rimes, Clay Walker, Mark Chesnutt and Diamond Rio.

For those who come to town without their cowboy boots, or, more importantly, their cowboy hats, tent sales will spring up around the hotel community to offer these and other western wear essentials, often at discount prices.

The Cashman Field Center, a combination baseball field, meeting and convention facility, will be turned into one of the biggest emporiums of western wear, cowboy equipment and western art the city will ever see.

Numbers strongly indicate that there are a lot more visitors in Las Vegas for rodeo week than those who attend the rodeo. The country music shows, the shopping and the general ambience of Las Vegas bring them in.

The city will gain nongaming revenue of a little more than last year's $24 million in sales, hotel rooms and restaurant tabs. The luggage going out will be a lot heavier than the luggage that came in, and extra packages are always the norm as the rodeo draws to a close.

The National Finals Rodeo is also the time to visit the many places that offer dancing. Many of them have room to dance only this particular week. Many of the dance bands, dyed-in-the-wool country, are imported from Texas, Oklahoma and other traditional cowboy stomping grounds.