Stalled by COVID, Houston Rodeo moves to Fort Worth. But you’ll have to watch on TV.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was forced to shut down on March 11 by local authorities because of the spread of the coronavirus. The renowned rodeo began March 3 and was scheduled to conclude on March 22 at NRG Stadium.

But the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association has devised a plan to partially salvage it. The PRCA will transplant the remainder of the rodeo’s preliminary performances to Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Seven performances are scheduled for May 29-31 and the shows will be broadcast on the Cowboy Channel, which has its studios in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Fans will not be allowed during the performances.

Rodeo venues, along with many other entertainment businesses in Texas, can reopen Friday as part of the second phase of Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to jump-start the economy.

“I’m glad it’s coming to the Stockyards,” said Hub Baker, the Cowtown Coliseum’s longtime director. “We’re going to make the best of we can out of it. We’re glad about doing it.”

The rodeo performances will feature high-profile competitors such as four-time world champion Tuf Cooper, who has homes in Weatherford and Decatur. He’s scheduled to compete in tie-down roping in three different performances on May 31.

While the Houston Rodeo was making its run in March, officials were using a tournament format called the Super Series. PRCA chief executive officer George Taylor said the Cowtown Coliseum will host “the last 7 performances of the Super Series.”

In Houston, each cowboy was competing in three performances within a bracket during the prelims. At the time, competitors were attempting to qualify for a semifinal performance. But when the Houston Rodeo moves to Fort Worth, no semifinal or final round performances will be conducted.

Taylor said the “PRCA, event sponsors, and the Cowboy Channel” is financially backing the rodeo.

The prize money has been reduced significantly. Each performance will pay a minimum of $800 for a first-place finish, $600 for second place, $400 for third place, and $200 for fourth place.

If the Houston rodeo had stayed in NRG Stadium, competitors would have earned $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second, $1,000 for third and $750 for fourth place.

But as it was in Houston, each contestant will be paid a $300 appearance fee in Fort Worth.

The Rafter G Rodeo company of Terrell (Neal and Jim Gay), which serves as the senior stock producer of the Fort Worth Stock Show Rodeo, and Pete Carr, who is from Dallas, are among the group of contractors supplying the rodeo stock. Stace Smith of Athens, an 11-time PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year, also will be involved.

Taylor said rodeo personnel will be tested for the coronavirus.

“We have a screening process that includes a variety of questions and a medical screening,” he said. “If medical authorities have concerns at any time about an individual’s suitability to participate, that person will be denied access to the event until cleared by their personal physician.”

Ryan Motes, a five-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo team roping qualifier from Weatherford, will compete May 29 with partner Colman Proctor in the third of three performances after completing the first two in Houston.

Motes said he was grateful for the opportunity to compete.

“The whole thing is complicated in general and there’s no set human answer in any sport for any of this,” Motes said. “So, I’m glad that they’re trying to do something and have somewhere to go and to try to salvage the season.”

Cowtown Coliseum will have a much different atmosphere than in Houston, which sometimes draws crowds of around 70,000 at NRG Stadium. The performances there are held in conjunction with concerts by popular entertainers.

But Motes said the quiet atmosphere will be a familiar one. He sometimes competes in rodeo slack performances, which features the overflow of competitors not competing in the main shows.

“Especially in team roping, we compete in slack a lot,” Motes said. “We’re used to a handful of people there and roping in the mornings. It’s definitely different than Houston with 70,000 people.”

PRCA returns in Arizona

The PRCA, which has been shut down since mid-March because of the pandemic, will resume its 2020 regular season this weekend in Arizona.

The Cave Creek Rodeo Days, set for Friday-Sunday in the Phoenix area, is closed to fans but will be broadcast on the Cowboy Channel beginning at 9:30 p.m. each night.

The Cave Creek Rodeo has drawn numerous world-class competitors such as defending world all-around champion Stetson Wright.

Taylor said organizers are working to create a safe working environment.

“We all recognize while we’re all eager to return pro rodeo to our arenas, we also recognize that we have a substantial responsibility that comes with returning to competition,” Taylor said. “From a production standpoint, you will see a great rodeo, obviously, and we’re going to broadcast that on the Cowboy Channel.

“But you’re going to see more people wearing masks and more disinfecting of the environment than we would historically, more sanitation stations, those types of things that just allow for both the production personnel and the athletes to compete safely. We are also going to screen participants beforehand as well. It’s those types of things that will make it feel differently than a traditional rodeo.”

This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 6:00 AM.