More than 2.4 million guests, a record-breaking $1million steer, more than 34,000 livestock and horse show entries and more: Houston Rodeo’s 90th year by the numbers.
🎫 Attendance:
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- Total attendance for all activities on the grounds, Feb. 24 – 26 (World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest, presented by Cotton Holdings) and Feb. 28 – March 20, 2022 (Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo) reached 2,417,248.
- In three days, the World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest entertained 158,215 guests.
- Showtime highest daily total attendance from 2022: first: Saturday, March 19, 2022 – 174,735 second: Wednesday, March 16, 2022 – 159,931 third: Friday, March 18, 2022 – 159,656 fourth: Saturday, March 12, 2022 – 138,338 fifth: Saturday, March 5, 2022 – 136,600
- Paid rodeo/concert attendance reached 1,301,529. Highest paid rodeo/concert performances from 2022: first: Friday, March 18, 2022 – Marshmello – 73,866 second: Thursday, March 17, 2022 – Chris Stapleton – 73,757 third: Friday, March 11, 2022 – Black Heritage Day, presented by Kroger – Bun B’s H-Town Takeover – 73,259 fourth: Friday, March 12, 2022 – Parker McCollum – 73,243 fifth: Saturday, March 5, 2022 – Jon Pardi – 72,857
- The Sunday, March 20, concert-only performance with George Strait, and special guest Ashley McBryde, had a paid concert attendance of 79,456.
🎠 At the carnival:
- Approximately 2.9 million rides were taken at the carnival.
- The three most popular rides were La Grande XL, Sky Ride and the Titan.
- 100 trailers full of carnival prizes were brought to the 2022 Rodeo.
- Approximately 675,000 prizes were won at the games. The most popular prizes were Squishmallows, basketballs and teddy bears.
- The most popular food items were turkey legs, corn dogs, fried Oreos and funnel cakes.
- The Cookie Stand baked more than 250,000 cookies.
MORE: From ‘Best Fried Food’ to ‘Best Food-on-a-Stick,’ here are RodeoHouston’s award-winning eats
🐣 Agventure:
- Approximately 67,000 people participated in a scheduled school tour or field trip.
- Nearly 16,000 little cowboys and cowgirls rode the pony rides.
- More than 760 chicks hatched in the Poultry Exhibit.
- Thirty-two piglets, 17 lambs and 15 calves were born at the Birthing Center.
🤠 Houston Rodeo merchandise:
- More than 200,000 individual items of Rodeo and entertainer merchandise went home with fans, including 130,000 caps and T-shirts, 10,000 mugs and tumblers, and 12,000 lapel pins.
MORE: Houston Rodeo art you have to see: 72 outstanding creations from 2022′s fierce student art contest
🐮 Livestock and horse show:
- Livestock and horse show competitions drew 34,310 entries.
- Junior auction sales totaled $20,205,413 (unaudited preliminary totals).
- Barrow: $3,482,146
- Junior Commercial Steer: $1,075,636 (live auction of choice steers)
- Lamb and Goat: $3,209,725
- Poultry: $2,799,143
- School Art: $2,317,237
- Steer: $7,878,482 - Eleven auction Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion lots set Rodeo records.
Junior Market Barrow
Grand Champion: $250,000 (Rodeo record)
Reserve Grand Champion: $200,000 (Rodeo record)
Junior Market Pen of Broilers
Grand Champion: $200,000
Reserve Grand Champion: $145,000
Junior Market Goat
Grand Champion: $210,000 (Rodeo record)
Reserve Grand Champion: $190,000 (Rodeo record)
Junior Market Lamb
Grand Champion: $300,000
Reserve Grand Champion: $185,000 (Rodeo record)
Junior Market Steer
Grand Champion: $1,000,000 (Rodeo record)
Past Rodeo president and chairman of the board and current Executive Committee member Don D. Jordan and family make historic $1 million purchase, commemorating 90 years of Rodeo and Jordan’s upcoming 90th birthday.
Reserve Grand Champion: $675,000 (Rodeo record)
Junior Market Turkey
Grand Champion: $195,000 (Rodeo record)
Reserve Grand Champion: $120,000
School Art
Grand Champion: $250,000 (Rodeo record)
Reserve Grand Champion: $265,000 (Rodeo record)
Wine
Grand Champion: $250,000 (Rodeo record)
Reserve Grand Champion: $200,000 - Rodeo Uncorked! Champion Wine Auction: $3,210,212
- Ranching & Wildlife: $405,290
- Calf scramble and judging contest winners received 374 certificates, each worth $2,250, to apply toward the purchase of a registered beef heifer or steer to exhibit at the 2023 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Certificate premiums totaled $841,500.
- Calf scramble exhibitors from 2021 who returned with their heifer or steer projects to compete at the 2022 Houston Livestock Show received more than $100,000 total in premiums and awards.
- The Super Scramble competition was added in 2022, where the 19 “First Catch” scramblers from each of the previous 19 Calf Scramble performances were invited to participate in the event Saturday, March 19, 2022. The 19 scramblers had an extra chance to catch one of the nine calves during the event, and each participant was awarded a cash prize based on their performance. The event awarded an additional $42,000 in cash prizes for Texas youth.
MORE: Former RodeoHouston president makes record-breaking $1 million purchase of Grand Champion Steer
🍎 Scholarships and education:
- The Rodeo committed $22,125,250 to the youth of Texas in 2022:
- $14,186,000 in scholarships to be awarded this summer;
- $5,048,250 to junior show exhibitors;
- $2,418,610 in educational program grants; and
- $472,390 in graduate assistantships.
🏆 Houston Rodeo:
- RODEOHOUSTON committed $2.14 million to its contestants in 2022.
- The 2022 RODEOHOUSTON Super Series invited the world’s top rodeo athletes to compete in eight traditional rodeo events.
- RODEOHOUSTON introduced its second women’s only event to the competition, Breakaway Roping.
- RODEOHOUSTON Super Series athletes competed for a share of $1,881,500 in prize money. Each event champion rode out of NRG Stadium with $50,000, plus winnings from the preliminary rounds. - The 2022 RODEOHOUSTON Super Series Champions, with total money earned, are:
- Bareback Riding: Jesse Pope, Garnett, Kansas – $56,250
- Barrel Racing: Jordon Briggs, Tolar, Texas – $60,000
- Breakaway Roping: Erin Johnson, Fowler, Colorado – $53,750
- Bull Riding: Stetson Wright: Beaver, Utah – $57,000
- Saddle Bronc Riding: Sage Newman, Melstone, Montana – $57,500
- Steer Wrestling: Hunter Cure, Holliday, Texas – $57,000
- Team Roping: Clay Tryan, Lipan, Texas; and Jake Long, Morgan Mill, Texas – $109,000 ($54,500 each). Tryan is a two-time RODEOHOUSTON Champion (2016)
- Tie-Down Roping: John Douch, Huntsville, Texas – $57,250 - The RODEOHOUSTON Super Shootout, presented by Crown Royal, is a one-day invitation-only event that featured champion athletes from eight of the best rodeos in the U.S. and Canada.
- Contestants competed as individuals, and as a team consisting of event champions from each of the eight rodeos: Calgary Stampede, Days of 47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo, Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, Rodeo Austin, RODEOHOUSTON, San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo, and San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.
- The Super Shootout featured five fan-favorite events: bareback riding, barrel racing, bull riding, saddle bronc riding and steer wrestling.
- With a total purse of $262,500, the Super Shootout is among the richest one-day rodeo events in the world. Each event champion earned $25,000, and team members earned an additional $2,500 each for their share of $12,500 for the winning team. - 2022 champions, with the rodeos they represented, are:
- Bareback Riding: Cole Reiner, Team RODEOHOUSTON
- Barrel Racing: Sherry Cervi, Team Salt Lake Days of 47
- Bull Riding: Josh Frost, Team Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo
- Saddle Bronc Riding: Rusty Wright, Team San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo
- Steer Wrestling: Ty Erickson, Team National Western Stock Show
- Super Shootout Team Award: Team San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo
The information above was provided by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.