I love the Houston Rodeo! But there were a lot of things I didn’t know until I started looking at the official website, www.rodeohouston.com. Here are just a few of the things I found.
Beginning in 1932, the Houston Rodeo was called the Houston Fat Stock Show until the name was changed to “Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Association” almost 30 years later. In 1996, it officially became RodeoHouston®. It is the world’s largest livestock show and the richest regular-season Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association competition. In 2013, a record 264,132 people attended the “World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest,” and Rodeo attendance reached an all new-time high with 2,506,238 visitors. This number exceeds the city of Houston population. That’s a lot of people—and barbecue.
Gene Autry, the famed “Singing Cowboy” was the first star performer in 1942. In 1970, Elvis first played the Rodeo, but his 1974 performance was the largest crowd he ever had. 43,614 people. (That was also the year the first “World’s Championship Bar-be-Que Contest” was held. Maybe there’s a connection.)
In 2013, the concert with George Strait, Martina McBride, and the Randy Rogers Band set an all-time paid attendance record for the Rodeo (actually for any event in Reliant Stadium) with 80,020 people. And, by the way, did you know that George Strait is a fourth generation Texas rancher and a “Real Cowboy.” He is a talented team roper and a long-time member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
I love this: Reba McEntire was a former barrel racer from Oklahoma. She has performed at RodeoHouston seventeen times, and you might see me at her 18th performance this year! I love Reba!
And, finally, RodeoHouston is more than livestock, barbecue, and corndogs. Since the 1950s, 1,934 students have received scholarships and educational support with more than $235 million committed. Wow!
Oh, yeah. If you need help with real estate, give me a call!
