Sponsor a Rodeo

1. Sponsorship Budget

Talk with your team to determine what your sponsorship budget is. It will likely come out of your marketing budget.

To create a realistic budget, you need to know your market. Rodeo sponsorship costs vary across rodeos and are affected by rodeo size.

Sponsorship at smaller rodeos can start around $250. Medium rodeos often start around $2,500. Of course, rodeo sponsorships at the biggest rodeos at the highest tier cost significantly more. These sponsorships tend to start around $10,000.

Sponsorship costs also change if you’re looking to sponsor a rodeo association. Rodeo associations sanction rodeos and organize finals. Remember that these are sponsorships for the association, so you may get a little bit of a larger audience but it will be less targeted.

Sponsorship details for rodeo associations like the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) are not generally available to view online.

2. Rodeo Audience

A sponsorship’s primary value is access to a rodeo’s audience. Understand the demographics and interests of who attends rodeos generally. Then, you’ll also want to understand the specifics of the rodeo you’re considering sponsoring.

Rodeo Audience Demographics

Rodeo audiences tend to come from communities with strong agricultural ties. Some rodeos also draw tourists interested in experiencing a rodeo for the first time and cowboy culture.

At first glance, it’s tempting to think that rodeo doesn’t draw large audiences. However, taking a closer look at key players shows just how many people are interested in rodeo and rodeo sports.

For example, the PRCA reports 40 million ProRodeo fans. The Professional Bull Riders Association (PBR) reports 83 million interested fans and 16 million avid fans. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo draws around 2.5 million people over its 23-day program of events.

While the audience breakdown between men and women varies by rodeo sport, it’s safe to assume an overall 50/50 split between genders. Men tend to be more interested in bull riding. Women tend to be more interested in breakaway roping and other women’s rodeo sports.

Rodeos are a family-friendly event, so you’ll see people of all ages at a rodeo.

Rodeo Audience Interests

The first place to start when understanding a rodeo’s audience interests is to start with the rodeo itself.

Veterinary services and medicine, saddles, and other services for animals will matter to a subsection of your audience.

Turquoise jewelry, cowboy boots, jeans, belt buckles, leather crafts and other fashion products will engage a rodeo audience.

Rodeos often sell beer and other concessions, which makes rodeo sponsorship a great opportunity for local breweries.

Taking things further, consider other products and services that would be relevant to families. Think dental and orthodontic practices, medial practices, physical therapy, law offices, grocery stores, and so on.

3. Sponsorship Value

Rodeo sponsorships often include any number of the benefits listed below:

Sometimes you can negotiate a custom deal or a custom inclusion when you’re talking with a rodeo. As you review your sponsorship options, consider the value offered and figure out a way to track your return on investment.