Although rodeo has existed as a professional sport for more than 100 years, the professional rodeo cowboy has only recently begun to emerge into genuine athlete status. Cowboys are cowboys wherever they go, despite the fact that some are now world-renowned superstars.

Much of modern-day rodeo evolved from the working cowboy and his duties on the range. After months of back-breaking labor moving cattle across the country, cowboys celebrated the end of their grind by roping more cattle and riding wild broncs, but it was simply for fun and competition. But unlike the territory of an arena, the olden days of rodeo provided no chutes, no fenced-in areas and no bullfighters for protection.

It was from those informal, friendly competitions in the late 1800s that the sport of rodeo evolved. In 1936, the professional rodeo cowboy was born. That year, a small band of rodeo cowboys was angry with promoters in Boston who were reaping almost all the benefits of organized rodeo exhibitions. Contestants refused to compete until promoters agreed to distribute prize money fairly, judge events equally and advertise the sport honestly. This group of about 60 defiant cowboys became the Cowboy Turtles Association.

The Association was renamed the Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1945, and in 1975, became the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Currently, about 7,000 cowboys are members of the PRCA.

Rodeo now has evolved from its rough origins into a high-stakes, glamorous sport. It’s no longer a friendly, informal competition — it’s big, it’s prestigious and it’s tough competition with a tremendous audience. More than 20 million spectators attend rodeos each year, and millions more watch them on television. It is also big-league business for its players, who work hard for their paychecks. But the rewards can be more than monetary for those that succeed. Rodeo is more than a job and a profession for most of these competitors — it is a way of life.

The PRCA sanctions more than 650 rodeos in 41 states that offer a total of more than $35 million in prize money. And like almost every sport, ProRodeo has a “premier” event — one that secures widespread recognition and interest — even among people who don’t normally follow the sport. The National Finals Rodeo is more than just “the finals”; it is a spectacular showdown of the top 15 competitors in each event competing in 10 grueling rounds of competition for a part of millions in prize money.

Ranked as the world’s largest rodeo, RODEOHOUSTON invites only the top cowboys and cowgirls in the sport to compete. Reliant Stadium, the home of RODEOHOUSTON, is the only stadium of its kind built specifically for rodeo and football.

RODEOHOUSTON draws the top contestants in each event to compete in the world’s largest rodeo. At the 2008 Show, champion cowboys and cowgirls competed for a total rodeo purse of more than $1.3 million. Winning a RODEOHOUSTON champion title is a big stride toward earning a paycheck that will lead a contestant to the NFR.

RODEOHOUSTON has been honored as PRCA Indoor Rodeo Committee of the Year nine times, in 2007 the PRCA awarded RODEOHOUSTON with the Top Rough Stock Remuda Award and the 2008 RODEOHOUSTON was included in PRCA’s Winter Tour promotion. The Women’s Professional Rodeo Association awarded RODEOHOUSTON with the Most Improved Ground – Indoor Award.

In 2008, RodeoHouston was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.