Ladies,
First of all, I’d like to thank all of you that participated in the second annual Women’s Rodeo World Championship, and congratulations to all the winners.
These are exciting times for rodeo and specifically women’s rodeo. Who would have thought that there would be a rodeo paying out $750,000 made up of solely women athletes with a diverse background ranging from a 13-year-old (who works every discipline quite well), to a school nurse, to the seasoned pro? And who would have thought, that this all-female rodeo would smash TV broadcast viewership records for all of rodeo with 2.3 million viewers on a Sunday afternoon? You all put on a great show and the feedback from the people who watched it was nothing but positive.
We know that the date change was not great for everyone, but it was necessary to get the October 31st CBS broadcast window. The reported ratings will help to legitimize women’s rodeo and get more sponsorship revenue not only for the WRWC event but also for the athletes. No rodeo in history has achieved ratings even close to 2.3 million, and you did! This is a milestone for all of rodeo.
We also know that uncertainty about dates and formats has frustrated some of you, but the good news is that now that PBR has officially moved their finals we know when and where the WRWC will be held going forward (May 16-18, Ft Worth, Texas).
New for 2022, WRWC will now be part of the WCRA Triple Crown of Rodeo $1MM Bonus program. Moving forward the top 20 in each Pro and Challenger leaderboard will qualify along with the winners of Qualifier Series events (QS) with no entry fees.
The Qualifier Series events will replace the Fast-Track Qualifiers. A select group of events will be Qualifier Series events. We are finalizing the QS event list for the 2022 segment (W22) and hope to have up to 6 events per discipline. As we complete the 2022 QS schedule, we are also working on the 2023 season QS events. The 2023 plan includes up to 12 QS events for each discipline. A Qualifier Series event will be as follows:
- The nomination will be voluntary. But there must be at least 5 nominations in your leaderboard (Pro/CHL) for a generic qualification to be awarded.
- Expanded points will be awarded in every paid round
- up to 20 places in Breakaway Roping and Team Roping
- up to 40 places in Barrel Racing (max 10 places per D)
- The highest placing nominator will earn the qualification per leaderboard (Pro/CHL)
- A generic qualification means there is no longer a separate Fast Track round at the WRWC. Each athlete that wins a generic qualification will win a free entry to compete in their respective leaderboard position at the event.
- 40% of each nomination will be paid back in “VRQ Fast Cash”
We believe that these changes will suit both the athletes as well as the producers.
During the Las Vegas event, we held an informal Q&A and had a good group of very engaged ladies spend nearly three hours with our leadership team. We were able to expand on some of the future plans we laid out during the athlete meeting the day before. But more importantly, we were able to answer questions, along with ideas and feedback from the group. I’d like you to know that this was a very unselfish group of ladies who recognized the need to cultivate the up-and-coming talent as well as to incentivize those to reach a higher level. Some of the changes that we have made coming out of this meeting are:
- We will award a Pro and a Challenger World Championship based on total points earned throughout the total season and to include points earned at the WRWC through the Semi Final round and Aggregate. This will ensure that Challengers can earn a title and WRWC winnings without competing against the Pro’s. Both the Pro and the Challenger title will be awarded with a World Championship buckle as well as a $5,000 cash bonus.
- Challenger rankings will be re assessed quarterly and when someone is promoted from Challenger to Pro, they will take the points earned and any QS generic qualifications on the Challenger leaderboard to the Pro leaderboard.
We have streamlined the competition format to minimize confusion. The format for the 2022 WRWC will be as follows – see advancement chart HERE:
- Qualifying Rounds – Each Leaderboard competition and advancement ran separately (May 16 Cowtown Coliseum)
- Top 20 per discipline
- BAW/TR – 2 rounds // GBR – 1 Round
- 12 advance to Semi-Final Round
- Semi-Final Round – Each Leaderboard competition and advancement ran separately (May 17 Cowtown Coliseum)
- 12 from Qualifying Rounds
- 1 round of competition
- BAW/TR Aggregate paid after Semi-Final on 3 rounds
- GBR Aggregate paid after Semi-Final on 2 rounds (At this point we will award the Pro and CHL World Championships based on total accumulated points)
- 4 advance to the Showdown Round
- The Showdown Round – combined leaderboards (May 18 Dickies Arena)
- 10 athletes – 1 round of competition / clean slate
- 1 – Pro Leaderboard #1 (seeded athlete)
- 1 – CHL Leaderboard #1 (seeded athlete)
- 4 – Advancing Pro Athletes from Semi-Final Round
- 4 – Advancing CHL Athletes from Semi-Final Round
- Top 3 advance to Triple Crown of Rodeo Round
- 10 athletes – 1 round of competition / clean slate
- The Triple Crown of Rodeo – 1 round of competition / clean slate
- Top 3 from Showdown Round
- Event Champion of each discipline will take home a $60,000 check.
- The max runs in the Barrel Racing would be four times
- The 2022 WRWC All Around title will also be based on the entire season’s combined Pro/CHL Leaderboards total points earned in two or more disciplines. The All Around Champion will be awarded the Buckle, Saddle and a $20,000 bonus.
All information regarding the event can be found on the WRWC website at WRWC.RODEO. All questions can be answered by contacting support@wrwc.rodeo or calling 800-575-9792.
We believe the format modifications will simplify the process for all. We appreciate each and every one of you, as always we welcome your feedback and look forward to seeing you soon!
WCRA President- Bobby Mote
