How to Organize a Rodeo

Planning a Rodeo

Start with the key characteristics of your rodeo experience – attracting cowboys and cowgirls to compete. Consider prize money, high quality stock, and sanctioning bodies.

People come to see a show, and cowboys, cowgirls, and animals aren’t the only part of it. You’ll want to find an announcer, a rodeo clown, timer, photographer, etc. to help you deliver a memorable experience and build on it for the following year. And, consider selling concessions and merchandise to enhance your rodeo experience and marketing.

You’ll also want to identify a theme for your rodeo and consider fundraising at your rodeo.

Then, it’s the nuts and bolts for financing – ticket pricing and sponsors.

Start with an Online Rodeo Ticketing Form

You may be thinking – why should I create an online ticketing form before I have any details figured out?

Well, creating your form is the perfect first step for the following reasons:

• It boosts your online visibility.
• It builds excitement for your rodeo.

You don’t have to have anything ready to go – you can leave ticket sales closed. You can add a countdown clock until sales open, and let people sign up for an email notification when your rodeo ticket sales open.

Beyond these advantages, an online ticketing form helps you simplify your ticket sales. When picking an online ticket provider make sure it utilizes a simple checkout process that doesn't require accounts for spectators. Look for fewer pages in your ticket sales because it means fewer abandoned carts.

Online fees can also vary widely among different providers. Compare top rodeo ticket providers rates, and benefits.

Attract Cowboys & Cowgirls

Think about what cowboys and cowgirls want from their rodeo experience – prize money, good livestock, and sanctioned competitions.

Look at rodeos around you of similar size. Find out what they offer for prize money. Set your prize money to be competitive in your area for each rodeo sport.

The next thing cowboys and cowgirls care about is livestock. They want to be sure that their animal partners are as reliable as they are. Find a dependable stock contractor in your area, and advertise your partnership.

You’ll also want to consider other aspects of their rodeo experience like stables, food, and preferred parking. All of these things make traveling to perform at your rodeo easier and a better experience.

And, you’ll also want to consider joining sanctioning bodies like the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA), or others.

Create a Memorable Rodeo Experience

Many elements make for a great rodeo experience. Find an entertaining announcer, an experienced clown, and an exciting specialty act to help you put on a good show.

And, you’ll want to give yourself a marketing boost next year with great photos to increase excitement for next year. So, be sure to hire a photographer to capture all the thrilling moments.

Check out other rodeo resources in your state.

Other key elements of your rodeo experience are merchandise and concessions. Create hats, sweatshirts, and other items to sell attendees and spread the word about your rodeo. Swag is a great way to promote your rodeo wherever your attendees go, and it helps generate revenue. You can even do special merchandise around your theme.

Concessions are another way to enhance the rodeo experience and generate revenue for your rodeo. Select food and beverage options that will appeal to your attendees.

Fundraise at Your Rodeo

Many rodeos fundraise at their performances – whether it’s supporting Tough Enough to Wear Pink, the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund, or even fundraising to make arena improvements. Fundraising has become a traditional part of rodeos.

Choose software that integrates fundraising with your ticketing. With Rodeo Ticket, you can ask for donations in the ticket purchase pathway and collect them separately online. Each nonprofit you work with has their own fundraising webpage that tracks progress towards your goal, recent donations, and accepts donations.

Learn more about rodeo fundraising.

Develop Sponsor Packages

The most important detail is funding your rodeo. Sponsors are a key revenue source for rodeos, so you’ll want to create an attractive sponsor package.

Search online for rodeo sponsorship opportunities offered by other rodeos. Use this information to understand what’s typical for rodeos of your size in your area.

Next, consider what you can offer sponsors in exchange for funding. Much of your offer will be focused on marketing and exposure. Consider logo placement on your website, tickets, email footers, and around the arena. You can even offer free tickets or VIP access. Be creative as you consider other ways you can offer value to your sponsors.

Then, create a marketing flier with several sponsorship levels offering different benefits in each tier that you can use to help with sponsorship sales. Each business you contact will have a different budget, so creating several options can help you close more deals.

And, you’ll also want to choose a ticketing platform that offers tools for easy sponsor sales, sponsor management, and sponsor promotion. Rodeo Ticket offers online sales, invoicing, mass mail, automated renewals, sponsor promotions, automated logo placement, and even autogenerated sponsor promo codes.

Set Rodeo Ticket Prices

The next piece of funding for your rodeo is ticketing. Before you set ticket pricing, consider your arena to determine how you’ll sell tickets – assigned seating tickets, general admission tickets, box seats, etc.

Once you’ve determined what kind of tickets you’ll sell, start assigning prices. You’ll want to have competitive prices, so look at what other rodeos are charging.

Plan to open ticket sales four months before your rodeo. Opening early lets you increase prices as your rodeo draws nearer. If you’re planning to increase ticket prices, be sure to advertise when the increase will happen. Document these changes on your website and send a mass email to all past attendees before each price increase happens. Price increases create a sense of urgency for your attendees and gets them to make purchase decisions faster.

Learn more about rodeo ticket pricing strategies.

Open Rodeo Ticket Sales Early

Start selling tickets at least four months before your rodeo. Opening sales early gets revenue flowing faster, so you can start paying for things sooner. And, you’ll have a better sense of your bottom line, especially if you can sell out in advance.

Remember that your greatest source of rodeo growth is friend and family referrals from your spectators that have already purchased. The earlier you can have people purchase tickets for your rodeo, the more time they have to talk about your rodeo.

It also benefits your attendees – they can buy tickets whenever they are ready instead of having to wait for a specific day. Attendees that visit your rodeo website throughout the year may not think to come back in six months to buy tickets. However, you can collect email addresses on your ticketing page so people can be notified of when ticket sales open.

Of course, you’ll want to choose a ticketing company that lets you reserve seats for sponsors so you don’t oversell.

Promoting Your Rodeo

Promotion is key to your rodeo’s bottom line. You’ll want to start with a good name for your rodeo, and then build your advertising strategy.

Advertise Your Rodeo

There are many ways to advertise your rodeo. Start by focusing on your target audience and understanding how they communicate. Then, craft a message that resonates with them. Make it compelling and concise.

Put posters or fliers up at all the retail stores in areas where your target audience spends time. Sometimes property owners at busy intersections will let you put up a banner on their fence. This is another inexpensive way to get the word out about your rodeo.

Reach out to your audience online with social media ads, rodeo calendar listings, a website, and organic social media posts. Start by including your rodeo on our calendar. (Calendar listings are free, and you can buy a display ad to highlight your rodeo event more across our rodeo calendars.)

If you are partnering with a charity at your rodeo, you might market through channels outside of your usual interest groups alongside your traditional targeting. For example, you may want to have your partner charities promote your rodeo on their social media accounts and their email lists. They may even distribute posters and help with volunteers.

Collaborate with other rodeos on advertising. Maybe you can swap advertising for your concerts. A great way to promote any type of rodeo is to advertise at other similar rodeos. Some rodeos will let you put fliers at their gates, or maybe you could pay to have a booth at their rodeo to talk with attendees directly. Sometimes you can do an email trade with another rodeo (they email your attendees if you can email their attendees).

You may want to create a press release about your new rodeo, or if it is not new, make a press release about any changes you have for this year.

Add Rodeo to Calendar

Create a Rodeo Website

Creating a rodeo website is key to establishing a strong online presence. You may have friends or relatives that know web design and are happy to help. Alternatively, website companies may be willing to trade web design for sponsorship. Or, you can pay for the services you receive.

Another option is to take on your website creation yourself. It’s easy to do with Rodeo Ticket’s free website builder and free website hosting available to rodeos with paid tickets.

Include lots of information on your website, like pricing, purchase deadlines, hotel information, rodeo dates and start times, photos, video, etc. Post a FREE online rodeo listing.

Use Trackable Growth Tools

Rodeo Ticket offers effective, trackable growth tools to help you sell more tickets. Offer a small discount when attendees share your ticket sales page with their friends on Facebook.

You can enhance your Rodeo Queen ticket sales with our automated, trackable referral program. You can even expand this program to all of your attendees and offer rebates for each ticket they help you sell.

Turn on automated abandoned cart email reminders to close more sales. And, so much more.

Producing a Rodeo

The execution of a rodeo brings all the details together from your planning stages to make them happen. Use our list of things to do when creating a rodeo below:

Obtain Rodeo Permits

Check with your local government to determine what permits are required for the type of rodeo you want to create. You will most likely be required to provide insurance coverage of your rodeo to receive a permit. And, you will want coverage to protect your company or whomever is responsible for putting on the rodeo.

Check for Restrooms

Be sure your arena has restrooms. If your arena doesn’t already have its own restrooms, get portable restrooms. These units can be very pricey when purchased in small quantities, so shop around to find a good price.

Sell Rodeo Sponsorships

Once you have your sponsorship packages created, it’s time to start selling them. Contact local businesses to see if they’re interested in becoming a sponsor. Local breweries, restaurants, and even retail stores are great candidates for sponsorship. If a business owner can’t make a sponsorship category work, you could negotiate another way for them to provide products or services to improve the quality of your rodeo in exchange for marketing.

You can even look at bigger brands like Ariat, Boot Barn, Coors, and more to sponsor your rodeo.

Sell Concessions

Depending on how many days of performances you offer, consider having food at the rodeo. Participants appreciate food that correlates with the kind of experience you are providing or the location your rodeo is at. You can opt to sell concessions yourself or ask a local restaurant or food truck to take concessions on. If you’re looking to offer free food, you may find a local market or restaurant to do that in exchange for sponsorship.

Find Volunteers

Finding volunteers for your rodeo can be a challenge. Luckily, many community organizations are looking for volunteer hours. Connect with student volunteer organizations, 4H groups, businesses, scout troops, troubled youth groups, cheerleading squads, youth organizations, other event volunteer email lists, etc.

Between rodeo performances, have volunteers clean up bleachers and common walkways to ensure the stands are ready for the next performance

Consider using our integrated volunteer registration form to easily gather volunteers and coordinate with them.

Be sure to have food for your volunteers during their volunteer shift. You can even offer free tickets to a rodeo performance, a gift, or host a volunteer party when your rodeo is over.

Ensure Safety

Coordinate the police and security for your rodeo. Make sure that you have the proper barriers and ventilation.

The nature of your rodeo and the number of spectators will determine the amount of medical personnel needed. Rodeos should have EMTs on site, and a medical tent in a prominent location with doctors and nurses handy to help with medical problems. Consult with a medical professional in your area to see what the specific needs of your rodeo may be.

You’ll also want to have veterinary support at your rodeo for animal safety and to provide quick procedures if needed.

Finding the Right Software

Many factors go into choosing a rodeo ticket software provider. Keep in mind that the ticket sales process is the most important part of your customer’s online experience. Most customers will see the ticket sales pages as an extension to your own site, so choosing the best rodeo ticket software experience will help to maximize your brand.

Make sure that the ticket service provider you choose keeps the ticketing process as clean and simple as possible. Using a simple ticket software provider ensures that attendees will complete the transaction quickly, and your rodeo attendance will grow.

The online fees impact the total cost of managing your rodeo, so the lower the fees the better.

Beyond low fees and a simple ticket purchase process, consider sales tools, sponsor management, fundraising capabilities, and volunteer management.

Rodeo Ticket offers robust rodeo management software fully integrated with its online ticketing tools, which makes it a one-stop shop for rodeo committees.