Canadian Finals Rodeo

The Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) is the national championship professional rodeo in Canada, held in Red Deer, Alberta, and previously in Edmonton. The CFR takes place in early November and is the final event of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) season. It offers one of the richest purses in Canadian rodeo, usually worth over C$1,000,000.


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Canadian Professional Rodeo Association

Canadian Professional Rodeo Association

Format

Currently, the CFR features the 10 leading money-winners in each event throughout the Canadian rodeo season, as well as the first- and second-place finishers in each event during the last 10 rodeos of the Canadian Tour season. Each CFR event is contested over five days, featuring six rounds. Before 2006, only Canadian residents were able to compete in the CFR. However, international contestants are now eligible to compete, granted they qualify.[1]

From its inception through 2007, the CFR had a unique sudden-death format in which none of the prize money the competitors had earned during the season carried over to the finals. Competitors who finished in the first four places in each round of the CFR received points on a sliding scale from 40 points to 10 points. At the end of the rodeo, the top four places in "the average" (i.e., average time or score throughout all the rounds) also earned points on the same scale. The performers with the most points in each event were crowned Canadian champions.[1]

In 2008, at the request of the competitors, the CFR adopted a format similar to that of the National Finals Rodeo in the United States. The competitors now carry over their money earnings during the Canadian season, and the money they earn during the CFR is added to their season total, with the leading money-winner in each event at the end of the CFR crowned as season champion. The contestants argued that the amount of money on offer at the CFR made it impossible to clinch a season title before the CFR, and that adopting an NFR-style format would encourage more entries at smaller late-season rodeos.[1]

Host

From its 1974 inception through 2017, the event was held at Northlands and Northlands Coliseum (most recently known as Rexall Place) in Edmonton, Alberta.[2] In July 2016, it was announced that the event would move to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 2017, after having rejected a bid by Northlands and Oilers Entertainment Group to continue hosting the event in Edmonton.[3]

However, on October 19, 2016, it was announced that the memorandum of understanding between the CPRA and the city of Saskatoon had fallen through, and that a new deal had been reached between the CPRA and Northlands to keep the event in Edmonton for 2017.[4] Northlands Coliseum was closed in 2018 due to financial difficulties affecting Northlands since the opening of Rogers Place.[5][6]

On January 16, 2018, it was announced that the Canadian Finals Rodeo would move to Red Deer, Alberta beginning 2018, under a 10-year contract. The event is now held at Westerner Park and Peavey Mart Centrium, and was extended to a six-day event with a new youth competition, and additional entertainment. Temporary seating is installed to expand the arena by 2,000 during the rodeo.[7]

The CPRA did not have a season in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it returned to having events, including the CFR, in 2021.

Events

Championship titles are awarded to the individuals who earn the most money in their event:[8]

See also

References
  1. Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (November 3, 2008). "New format for Canadian Finals Rodeo". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  2. "CFR officials yee-haw fan roundup". Edmonton Journal. November 12, 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2009.
  3. "It's official: Canadian Finals Rodeo riding off to Saskatoon next year". CBC News. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  4. "Canadian Finals Rodeo no longer headed to Saskatoon". CTV News Saskatoon. October 17, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  5. "Northlands Coliseum will close permanently at end of this year". CBC News. September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  6. Kornik, Slav (September 13, 2017). "Edmonton's Northlands Coliseum closing its doors in January". Global News. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  7. "It's official: Red Deer will host the CFR for 10 years". CBC News. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  8. 2019 Pro Rodeo Canada Media Guide, Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductees, p. 10.

Sources
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