High School Rodeo is not going back to Farmington, NM

The National High School Rodeo Association has had a few of their national finals at Farmington, NM. I have heard from many participants that they liked going there, and that it was a good rodeo. But a report from Shark.com says that Farmington turned down a bid to have the finals there again in 2014. The committee claims that the national association has shown a lack of concern over losses incurred in the community hosting the event. Farmington Mayor Bill Standley says that "In good conscious, I just don't think I see that benefit versus the loss that we incurred. I think they're thumbing their nose at the communities." Finalized financial statements reviewed Tuesday indicated more than $124,000 in taxpayer money was lost by hosting the 2009 National High School Rodeo Finals, as well as a $186,000 loss in 2008. In this article, National High School Rodeo Association Executive Director Kent Sturman said he was surprised to hear Farmington would not seek the 2014 rodeo. "They've not brought anything to our attention. We're not aware that they've lost money on that event. We have not had any communication on that matter," Sturman said. "Last we were told is that they were very interested in bidding to bring the event back." Tres Rios Executive Director Beth Utley disputed the statement, saying concerns regarding the taxpayer shortfall were clearly expressed after the 2008 high school finals rodeo.

I always take the information I found on Shark.com with a grain of salt, as they are always looking for scandalous news regarding rodeo in general, especially since the other side of the story (high school rodeo) has only gotten a few lines of text in this article for defending itself. However, I can see how putting on a rodeo can cost a lot of money for taxpayers. But I have been involved in large finals that go over a week, and the surrounding businesses do make a lot of money when you think about the hundreds of people coming in. They are buying hotel rooms, going out to eat 3x a day, shopping around town, and buying a lot of gas and diesel to make it to the next rodeo.

Read the article yourself and decided if there is bias inherent in the way Shark.com releases information.