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The amazing season of saddle bronc rider Sage Newman got even better this past weekend.

Newman earned $23,634 at four different rodeos, highlighted by his $13,902 payday at the Xtreme Bronc Finals in Rapid City, S.D., on Aug. 21.

By earning that amount Newman upped his season total to $233,360, which is a new regular season saddle bronc earnings record before the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. The previous record was $224,488 set by Ryder Wright in 2019.

Newman is sure to add to his record total as the PRCA regular season doesn’t end until Sept. 30.

This season, Newman, who leads the PRCA | RAM World Standings, has won countless rodeos, including RodeoHouston. At RodeoHouston, he pocketed $57,500.

Newman won the coveted RodeoHouston title with a 93-point ride on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Billie in the Championship Shootout at NGR Stadium.

“That was unbelievable,” said Newman, 24. “That was the most memorable win of my career so far. It’s a legendary rodeo and to be able to win that is amazing. My traveling partner Kolby Wanchuk got on that horse (Billie) in San Antonio (Feb. 26) and was 90 on him, so I knew what he was all about and when I drew that horse, I was pretty excited.

“I was talking with some of my traveling partners, and I told them last year I was fighting to get $80,000 at the end of the year.”

From 2017-20, Newman earned a combined $33,000 and some change and then everything changed in 2021.

The Melstone, Mont., cowboy made his Wrangler National Finals Rodeo debut finishing 12th in the world standings with $82,718.

He earned $42,658 of that at the Wrangler NFR at the Thomas & Mack Center last December in Las Vegas, placing in two rounds, and finishing 11th in the world standings with $125,375.

Courtesy of PRCA

Las Vegas Events announced today that its long-tenured president, Pat Christenson, will retire on December 31, 2023. Christenson will continue to work with the new President once the position has been filled, prior to the start of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo this December.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin in 1976 where he won an NCAA Wrestling title at 167 pounds, Christenson has carved out an impressive career in Las Vegas in venue development, event programming and development and sponsorship.

Christenson moved to Las Vegas in 1980 to be the assistant wrestling coach and event coordinator. In 1983, he was promoted to assistant director of the newly built 18,500-seat Thomas & Mack Center which was unfinished and projected to be a cash drain on UNLV. At the same time, UNLV took over management of the 30,000-seat Las Vegas Silver Bowl (now Sam Boyd Stadium). Christenson was charged with developing programming and developing an operation for both venues. From 1983 – 1992, the Thomas & Mack Center and the Las Vegas Silver Bowl were arguably the two most successful collegiate venues in the country. Christenson booked every event that toured the country, averaging 175 events per year in both venues. By 1990, both venues were solvent, had completed $15 million worth of improvements and amassed a sizeable reserve.

In 1991, Christenson was promoted to director of both venues where he lobbied for and managed a $40 million renovation of both venues. From 1991-1995, they sold out every show averaging more than 135,000 tickets per year. The Eagles, Metallica, Dave Mathews Band, N’Sync, Lollapalooza, George Strait and three U2 tours followed. He also lured the Grateful Dead to the Silver Bowl.

Christenson worked with Cox Communications to provide half the funding and then designed and opened a badly needed Olympic sports venue for UNLV, Cox Pavilion.

In 2001, Christenson accepted a position as president of Las Vegas Events. In this capacity, he has been responsible for securing “Signature Events” and then ensuring their growth and success. During his tenure, Las Vegas Events has increased the number of events it has supported from 21 in 2001 to an average of 41 over the past five years prior to the start of the pandemic. Most notably, the list includes two events Las Vegas Events produced – the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo® and the FEI World Cup Jumping and Dressage Finals. In addition, LVE secured and supported four conference basketball tournaments, Electric Daisy Carnival, Rock in Rio, Life Is Beautiful, USA Sevens, NBA Summer League and numerous USBC Open Championships. The non-gaming economic impact of these events has increased from $108.9 million in 2001 to an average of more than $535.8 million for the period of 2015 – 2019.

As both the director of the Thomas & Mack Center and president of Las Vegas Events, Christenson has played a prominent role in the growth of the NFR since it first arrived in 1985. Known as the richest and most prestigious rodeo in the world, the NFR attracts the top 15 contestants in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing and bull riding to compete for a share of the increased purse and the coveted PRCA Gold Buckle. In 2001, the NFR drew visitors for only tickets sold in the Thomas & Mack Center. He created the “NFR Experience” with a goal of dramatically increasing visitation by developing and promoting events outside the Thomas & Mack Center. Today, it is estimated that the NFR Experience draws more than 400,000 visitors annually, participating in 200+ events made up of 25 NFR Viewing Parties, 70 concerts, The Cowboy Channel Cowboy Christmas, World Series of Team Roping and more.

Christenson is a member of the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame (Class of 2013), the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame (Class of 2019) and the Wisconsin Wrestling Hall of Fame and has been a member of the Board of Governors for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. During his career he has served on the Boards of MDA, Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation, Opportunity Village and Grant a Gift Autism Foundation. In 2007, he was named Las Vegas’ “Most Influential Sports Figure” by the Las Vegas Sun.

For more information on the Wrangler NFR, please visit NFRexperience.com or through social media at /LasVegasNFR and use #WranglerNFR. For the latest ProRodeo news and Wrangler NFR TV coverage, please visit prorodeo.com or through social media @PRCA_ProRodeo.

Las Vegas NFR will be held on December first week 2022 that it has launched the new mobile application for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Rodeo fans can now use the app to plan their rodeo experience in Las Vegas, which runs from Dec. 1 – 10 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

This year, we’ve enhanced our schedule features (including the popular What’s Hot category), so you can easily find the events you’re interested in. We’ve also made it easy for you to access all NFR blogs in one place, and we’ve enhanced our parking diagrams and maps. Plus, we’ve added NFR A/V, so you can catch up on daily video highlights and content, or listen to the NFR Playlist on Spotify. There will be a lot of fun things to do in October of 2022! In addition to the rodeo, there will be entertainment around town, live stats, scores, contestant information and more.

Wrangler NFR fans will be able to download a free application that includes the following features:

• Schedule: The Wrangler NFR app provides fans with a complete list of performance times, Wrangler NFR 9-5, NFR After Dark, Cowboys Christmas activities and What’s Hot. It also allows fans to add events directly to their smart phone calendar;

• Beyond the Dirt: If you can’t make it to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, don’t worry. Beyond the Dirt will be streaming live, so you can watch all the competition from anywhere;

• Parking & Maps: This year, Cowboy Christmas will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Parking details and maps are available, and there will be shuttle bus service to and from the event;
• Tickets: FAQs, info on the NFR Online Ticket Exchange through our safe, secure and authentic portal and more;
• Cowboy Christmas: Contains info about the official gift show of the Wrangler NFR and a full list of exhibitors and interactive areas, including booth numbers;
• Stats, Stock & Contestants: Get stats, follow your favorite cowboy and look for match ups on the stock roster;
• Junior NFR: Follow the ten days of action inside the Wrangler Rodeo Arena;
• NFR A/V: Watch unique video content, the best rides each night and check out the NFR Playlist via the Spotify integration;
• Blogs, News & Social: Keep up with the Wrangler NFR by following our stable of bloggers, signing up for push notifications, and connecting with fans and friends via social media;
• Sponsors & Partners: Connect to all of our key sponsors and supporters.

The NFR Experience Mobile Application is available for free on all platforms. You can download the iOS or Android app and schedule your NFR Experience today.

App Store

Google Play

The Wrangler NFR, which has sold out for more than 300 consecutive performances, attracts the top 15 contestants in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing, and bull riding. Under the new contract with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association that runs through 2024, the purse in 2019 is $10 million. Qualification is based solely on the PRCA World Standings.

For more information on the Wrangler NFR, please visit www.NFRexperience.com or through social media at /LasVegasNFR and use

In the final four at AT&T Stadium for the American Rodeo, Andrew Ward and Buddy Hawkins were the only teams without gold buckles on either end.

Yet, that didn’t matter much, considering their previous records and number of wins.

• They both ran 3.69 seconds to win $100,000 each.
• Their seven-day streak ended with winning the Lone Star Shootout and $65,750 each.
• They placed in each round and won the second performance outright to earn $5,750 more at RodeoHouston.

It comes just a few months after they broke the 27-year-old NFR aggregate record in Las Vegas.

Ward believes that they were meant to form a good team with Hawkins when they first started playing together, regardless of whether they were naive or not. There was no doubt from the beginning that the partnership would work, and they would catch an incredible number of cows.  

Their confidence in themselves pushed them to succeed even when they didn’t deserve it.

Ward and Hawkins came second out in the final round following Clay Smith and Jade Corkill’s no time. Although neither Junior Nogueira and Kaleb Driggers nor Wesley Thorp and Cody Snow was able to stop the clock, they watched them in action while seated at the back of the arena. 

Hawkins pointed out that even though they were not the favorites to win in that round, they were able to win because all they did was compete against the top athletes such as Junior and Welsey. He said winning against such competitors came down to luck and confidence. While they did not change their running patterns, they did it with agility and felt they were worthy of winning.

In the American’s semifinal round of 10, Ward and Hawkins finished third after one of the hottest rounds of team roping in recent memory.

Their time was 3.69, so they had to settle for third place behind Snow and Thorp’s 3.46 and Driggers and Nogueira’s 3.51. Smith and Corkill’s scooped the number four position with a time of 3.86. Due to the challenging conditions, Cory Kidd/Lane Mitchell, and Dustin Egusquiza/Travis Graves, couldn’t post times less than four seconds.

Rodeos sanctioned by the PRCA have been part of The American in the past three years. The PRCA calculated its world standings using some $50,000 of American earnings. We saw it happening to Erich Rogers and Paden Bray, Luke Brown and Joseph Harrison, and Coleman Proctor and Ryan Motes.

The American no longer belongs to ProRodeo after its ownership changed in 2022. Consequently, Ward and Hawkins must earn their third consecutive NFR berth the hard way.

Hawkins said he respects the rules put in place to make the rodeo finals stand out as a captivating competition, no matter how much money is added in the American Rodeo. Essentially, the American has two ways of getting in long and hard-fought battles. There’s a chance to win $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, $100,000. The payout in itself is substantial, so he doesn’t mind that it doesn’t count. He is just very grateful for the team victory.

Ward admits, however, that his brown horse, Biscuit, isn’t the perfect setup for running hard. He explained that he is prone to missing the barrier and causing his horse to go incorrectly. For the run to be successful, he must get a good start and close to the cow and keep him there as long as possible.

As luck would have it, Ward’s brother-in-law Hawkins knows the play and holds the steers straight to ensure their successful run. One thing that makes that run work is his grade gelding X.

Hawkins’ horse has been the most successful horse by far in the last four or five years, despite not being rodeoed long enough. He now has one of the most consistent horses. Hawkins stated that even though his horse isn’t the best at anything, he goes to a good spot that allows him to catch a cow. There is a lot of chemistry between him and the horse.

The 35-year-old Hawkins and his wife, Tori, have just started building a house in Stephenville, Texas. He will surely be able to cover those expenses thanks to an influx of funds last week. 

On the other hand, 31-year-old Ward and his wife (Tori’s sister) are currently based in Edmond, Oklahoma. They will feed their rodeo habit with the money won last week and may even purchase a home in Texas so that they are closer to winter rodeos and jackpots.

With $20,089.54 each, Ward and Hawkins rank 7th in the PRCA world standings. Despite the no-times, the American’s top four teams won $13,333 each for their spot in the finals.

Ward and Hawkins are likely to continue their reign at RodeoHouston, where they will rope again on March 16