Documentary tells the story of the rodeo in Las Vegas

By Ric Anderson

Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014 | 2 a.m.

It’s December in the early 1980s, and Las Vegas has gone into deep hibernation. This has happened every December for years.

Tourism has faded to a trickle, with would-be visitors focusing on celebrating the holidays with family instead of gambling and boozing with strangers. Casino companies have furloughed employees and used the lull as an opportunity to shut down parts of their resorts for renovations and repairs. There’s not much to do except get the properties spiffed up for New Year’s Eve and take care of the few gamblers haunting the mostly empty gaming floors.

Time-travel 30 years, and Las Vegas no longer slumbers in December. Why?

Three letters: NFR.

The National Finals Rodeo transformed the valley by providing a stream of visitors — and their dollars — every December. Rooms filled up, furloughs became a thing of the past, and renovation and repair projects had to be sprinkled around the calendar.

That success story is being memorialized this year in “Buckin’ the Odds: 30 Years of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas,” a documentary scheduled to air 7 p.m. Dec. 1 on CBS Sports Network.

The film chronicles the events that led to the NFR moving from Oklahoma City to Las Vegas in 1985 and how the event has grown to a powerhouse that has sold out 280 consecutive nights. The storyline also focuses on how rodeo helped stabilize Las Vegas’ economy and fuel its growth through the 1980s and 1990s.

Narrated by Luke Perry, the former “Beverly Hills 90210” star who portrayed a bull rider in the rodeo movie “8 Seconds,” the documentary features appearances by top rodeo cowboys and Las Vegas notables, including South Point owner Michael Gaughan and Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.