A 10-day event billed as a celebration of western culture featuring professional bull riders, music and food is coming to Edmonton in fall 2017.
“We are bringing the best cowboys in the world to Edmonton in November 2017,” Sean Gleason, the CEO of Professional Bull Riders Inc. (PBR), said. “We’re going to bring the heat at a time I understand you could use some.”
The bull riding event will be held at the new Rogers Place arena.
“Edmonton is going to have an opportunity to see the best bull riders in the world compete, the best bull riders in Canada compete,” Gleason said. “We’re going to crown our national champion here. It’s going to be a huge, big weekend.
“We’re extremely excited about bringing the toughest animal athletes and toughest human athletes and the most exciting sport to Edmonton.”
The Oilers Entertainment Group said it will be a community event, with great opportunities for the city and local businesses.
OEG said the new event will coincide with Farmfair International.
“For us not to partner would have been a shame,” OEG CEO Bob Nicholson said. “You just heard Sean talk about how they’ve grown their brand in professional bull riding around the world and now we’re a big part of that.”
While PBR has its roots in rodeo, its events are bull riding only.
The Edmonton event will include three days of bull riding competition Friday, Nov. 10, 2017 to Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017 (Canada Finals, Edmonton Invitational and Edmonton Invitational Finals) and 10 days of “western lifestyle festival events and activations.”
READ MORE: Edmonton decides not to bid on Canadian Finals Rodeo
The OEG/PBR announcement comes three months after Edmonton revealed it would not be bidding on the Canadian Finals Rodeo, an event it’s hosted for 42 years.
In February, the Canadian Pro Rodeo Association (CPRA) rejected the city’s bid for a five-year extension. The bid included a substantial increase in prize money.
In May, Mayor Don Iveson expressed his disappointment with the entire process.
Iveson stressed the decision to walk away from the CFR was made in an effort to protect the taxpayers. The terms of the request for proposal, outlined a revenue guarantee for the CPRA and all profits associated with the event. Months of talks over ticket costs, prize purses and corporate sponsorships ended with Edmonton deciding not to put in a new bid.
Last year, the CFR generated about $30 million in economic impact for the city. Farmfair generated about $20 million.
READ MORE: Canadian Finals Rodeo heading to Saskatoon
The CPRA and the City of Saskatoon later signed a memorandum of understanding to bring the CFR to the city from 2017 to 2019.
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