Latest / Vegas Revealed / National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, 40 Years of Rodeo Action | EXTRA Ep. 298

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National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, 40 Years of Rodeo Action | EXTRA Ep. 298 · Vegas Revealed

• 0:00
  Sean McAllister: Vegas Revealed, presented by Galindo Law, starts now.
• 0:04
  Dayna Roselli: Hey everyone, and welcome to this podcast episode extra of 298.
• 0:10
  Dayna Roselli: Dana Roselli, Sean McAllister here.
• 0:12
  Dayna Roselli: I just got back from Thanksgiving break.
• 0:14
  Dayna Roselli: Sean went out and did an interview about National Finals rodeo.
• 0:18
  Dayna Roselli: We realize it's the 40th anniversary here in Las Vegas, and we thought, you know what?
• 0:22
  Dayna Roselli: We need to get this in now because NFR week or two weeks has just kicked off.
• 0:28
  Sean McAllister: It has, and this is a big deal.
• 0:30
  Sean McAllister: I mean, there really isn't another event throughout the year in Las Vegas that takes over two entire weeks and that brings in not only rodeo action, but concerts, events, uh cowboy appearances.
• 0:45
  Sean McAllister: There's a lot that goes on during uh national finals rodeo.
• 0:49
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, because it's like, you know, 10 days-ish, but it's also going over weekends.
• 0:55
  Dayna Roselli: So it never stops.
• 0:56
  Dayna Roselli: It's not like, oh, you know what I mean?
• 0:58
  Dayna Roselli: It's just on the weekends, or I mean, this is continuous, all sorts of stuff.
• 1:02
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, it goes on and on.
• 1:03
  Sean McAllister: This is uh like the the Super Bowl of rodeo.
• 1:06
  Sean McAllister: It is, is essentially what it is.
• 1:08
  Sean McAllister: So these cowboys, cow gals who are in rodeo work all year to try and get a spot to compete here in Las Vegas during this two-week span.
• 1:19
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, there's all sorts of stuff going on, like we mentioned in our other podcast, that you know, the amount of entertainment and pop-ups and experiences and attractions and shopping events that are happening over this period of time, it's really incredible.
• 1:33
  Dayna Roselli: So you went out to the Thomas and Mac where the actual rodeo takes place, the competitions.
• 1:39
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, they put the dirt down on the arena floor.
• 1:42
  Sean McAllister: That's where all the main event attractions happen.
• 1:46
  Sean McAllister: And I talked with Tracy Rank, who is with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
• 1:52
  Sean McAllister: They're the ones that put on National Finals rodeo.
• 1:56
  Sean McAllister: And he's the guy who knows everything about everything.
• 2:00
  Sean McAllister: What does this two weeks represent?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, it's just it's the culmination of our pro rodeo season.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's the Super Bowl of rodeo.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's where we crown all our world champions.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's what they all look forward to doing.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's where they have a chance.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's like if you're a Major League Baseball team, you want to get to the World Series.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a PFL football team, you want to go to the Super Bowl.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is what this is.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: This is the chance to be a world champion.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: This year it's so much more historic because it's the 40th anniversary of it being at the Thomas and Mac here in Las Vegas.
• 2:31
  Sean McAllister: And for fans who come here for all of this rodeo action, kind of give a big picture of what that rodeo experience around NFR is like.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, it's at all the hotels, all the events stay at different hotels, whether it's the Resorts World or MGM or even on Fremont Street, different different events stay at their contestants stay at the hotels all over Vegas.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: There's autograph sessions throughout the week.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: There's Cowboy Christmas, which has like 5,000 boots.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: I know I'm exaggerating, but if there's anything you wanted to have anything but the Western lifestyle, you go to Convention Center or the South Point, and they have the call Cowboy Christmas, and it's pretty much it's just a huge trade show from everything cowboy you'd ever want.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it just everything in Vegas around this area and this like around the town becomes Vegas.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like Fountain Blue has a cowboy becomes a cowboy bar, the tavern.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Different people all join in and it just becomes one big celebration.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: Vegas is known for Vegas, but it's just been great because it they've always embraced us, the rodeo world, and being here at the NFR, and it's just gotten better every year.
• 3:38
  Sean McAllister: So I think you can tell from what Tracy had to say that this is a huge deal.
• 3:44
  Sean McAllister: As a matter of fact, there's more than 17 and a half million dollars up for grabs for all of the competitions that take place during national finals rodeo.
• 3:55
  Sean McAllister: So I mean, this is where uh these athletes come to like earn their their salary for the year.
• 4:03
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 4:04
  Dayna Roselli: Remember there was a c a well, I don't even know.
• 4:06
  Dayna Roselli: It was more than five years ago when there was a chance that NFR could move to a different city.
• 4:11
  Dayna Roselli: It was a huge deal because we you know, we have so many events, it takes in so much money, it's so great for tourism, and we have just a city built for that kind of thing, and we got it back.
• 4:23
  Dayna Roselli: It was a little hairy there for a second.
• 4:26
  Sean McAllister: It it was, but we have NFR uh for a while now.
• 4:30
  Sean McAllister: They'll be here uh for the 50th anniversary of NFR being here in Las Vegas too.
• 4:36
  Sean McAllister: So uh NFR is calling Vegas home for quite some time.
• 4:40
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah, I'm so glad.
• 4:41
  Dayna Roselli: It's so much fun.
• 4:43
  Dayna Roselli: And you know, you and I did uh go to the Fountain Blue pop-up that he actually mentioned, and we went to the kickoff night.
• 4:50
  Dayna Roselli: It was a preview night, and this event is taking place for 10 days over there at the Fountain Blue, um, all the way through December 14th.
• 4:58
  Dayna Roselli: And we're talking about uh Chef Allie Clem.
• 5:02
  Dayna Roselli: She has brought her award-winning Central Texas barbecue to the strip.
• 5:07
  Dayna Roselli: Now it's a Michelin-starred restaurant.
• 5:09
  Dayna Roselli: We're talking about La Barbecue and the brisket and the food that she brought with her.
• 5:15
  Dayna Roselli: It's absolutely amazing.
• 5:18
  Sean McAllister: It was so good, and the smell of the the smoke from you know, they used to cook the barbecue.
• 5:26
  Sean McAllister: I mean, it was just it was amazing.
• 5:29
  Sean McAllister: They had a uh station in there where you could get a custom cowboy hat made.
• 5:35
  Dayna Roselli: Yep.
• 5:35
  Sean McAllister: And it was the first I got my first ever cowboy hat.
• 5:39
  Dayna Roselli: I know, and it looks great.
• 5:40
  Dayna Roselli: It was so much fun to watch them, you know, they were making ours because you pick all these things like the ribbon and all the embellishments, yeah.
• 5:46
  Dayna Roselli: You got a little uh matchbook of uh from Samstown, and you said it's my side of town, and this and that.
• 5:53
  Dayna Roselli: And so it's too funny um how you can actually make your personality shine through your hat.
• 5:58
  Sean McAllister: You really can.
• 5:59
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, that's what it's all about.
• 6:01
  Dayna Roselli: It is what it's okay.
• 6:02
  Dayna Roselli: So this here's the thing.
• 6:04
  Dayna Roselli: We had this pickled martini.
• 6:06
  Sean McAllister: Oh my gosh.
• 6:07
  Dayna Roselli: I have never had a martini pickle flavored, let me tell you.
• 6:12
  Sean McAllister: It was a game changer.
• 6:13
  Dayna Roselli: It was so good.
• 6:14
  Dayna Roselli: It was refreshing, a little salty, a little sweet, like like more, I don't even know, just more refreshing.
• 6:22
  Sean McAllister: Yeah, it was very refreshing.
• 6:23
  Sean McAllister: It was almost like a sour, yes.
• 6:25
  Dayna Roselli: Yes.
• 6:26
  Sean McAllister: Um pickled.
• 6:28
  Sean McAllister: Pickled, yeah.
• 6:29
  Sean McAllister: Imagine a pickled in a martini.
• 6:33
  Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
• 6:33
  Dayna Roselli: So it was delicious.
• 6:35
  Dayna Roselli: We had that.
• 6:35
  Dayna Roselli: We had some ranch water.
• 6:37
  Dayna Roselli: Um, they would they kicked it off with this whole shot experience.
• 6:40
  Dayna Roselli: You do a shot of whiskey, shot of pickle juice, then you have a bite of what was it, like steak or brisket.
• 6:46
  Dayna Roselli: Brisket, yeah.
• 6:47
  Dayna Roselli: Uh it was really fun.
• 6:48
  Dayna Roselli: So we were there for the preview.
• 6:50
  Dayna Roselli: This is taking place at the tavern, which is right there in the Fountain Blue on the casino floor near the sports book.
• 6:56
  Dayna Roselli: It's kind of an elevated sports space.
• 6:58
  Dayna Roselli: So go over there.
• 7:00
  Dayna Roselli: Somebody did DM me and say, how was it?
• 7:02
  Dayna Roselli: Like, Vegas doesn't really have like really top-of-the-line barbecue in town.
• 7:06
  Dayna Roselli: I'm like, I don't know because I don't travel around and do the whole barbecue circuit.
• 7:12
  Dayna Roselli: But that's what this person that direct messaged me said.
• 7:15
  Sean McAllister: And well, this this barbecue comes with a Michelin star.
• 7:19
  Sean McAllister: So you know that it's good.
• 7:20
  Sean McAllister: And we can attest to the fact that it is delicious.
• 7:25
  Dayna Roselli: It really was good.
• 7:26
  Dayna Roselli: But things like that are happening all up and down the strip, off the strip.
• 7:29
  Dayna Roselli: Um, we were talking to the president of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
• 7:33
  Dayna Roselli: I know they're doing a hat pop-up bar too, and like so there's so much going on.
• 7:37
  Dayna Roselli: Um, great to hear from Tracy.
• 7:39
  Dayna Roselli: We hope everyone enjoys Las Vegas for National Finals Rodeo.
• 7:43
  Dayna Roselli: And you hit up Cowboy Christmas and do all the fun stuff.
• 7:46
  Sean McAllister: Yeah.
• 7:46
  Sean McAllister: And uh we'll be back next week with an all new episode of Vegas Revealed.