Stock Show and Rodeo cancellation will cost Fort Worth $110 million
Fort Worth’s economy will miss out on a little more than $110.2 million in 2021 after the cancellation of the Stock Show and Rodeo.
That’s the latest estimate from the city’s public events department, which looked at a 2017 Economic Impact Study by Highland Market Research for the annual three-week event.
The Stock Show’s executive committee voted unanimously in October to cancel the event, scheduled for Jan. 15 through Feb. 6, as it became clear it posed a significant coronavirus risk. Daily attendance can exceed 140,000, according to organizers, with more than 1.2 million between competitors, exhibitors and attendees over the whole event.
The city’s estimate matches one the Star-Telegram reported shortly after the cancellation was announced. That figured estimated the local economy could miss out on $88.6 million to more than $177.6 million based on a nearly decade old calculation from the stock show.
City Hall is poised to lose almost $3 million in revenue, said Michael Crum, public events director. The biggest hit is a little more than $1.7 million in taxes generated from ticket, parking and stall sales at the Will Rogers Memorial Center. Hotel tax will be down about $500,000 and the Will Rogers complex will lose about $630,000 in revenue.
One of the biggest hits is to the hotel industry.
The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo usually generates an estimated 30,686 hotel room nights, according to a report from the public events department.
Since March, the city has received approximately $7 million in hotel tax, about $8 million less compared to the same time last year, Crum said. The tax projected for fiscal year 2020 was $29 million, but the city took a 34% loss, receiving about $19 million.
Crum does not anticipate cuts the public events department. It employs 103 people between Will Rogers and the downtown convention center. The department has loaned 18 staffers to other city offices to keep them employed and has maintained 14 vacancies, he said.
“At this time, additional furloughs are not anticipated,” Crum said in an email. “However, due to the uncertainty of the recovery and vaccine, layoffs cannot be ruled out in the future.”
While the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo has been canceled, the National Finals Rodeo has relocated from Las Vegas to Arlington. It is scheduled for Dec. 3-12.
It is slated to bring around 15,000 fans and competitors to Globe Life Field in Arlington each day. Several other events are planned for around Fort Worth, including at the Stockyards, the convention center and the Will Rogers complex.
Promoters say proper mitigation, including mask wearing and social distancing, will help stop the spread of the virus at the popular “Super Bowl of rodeos” but public health experts told the Star-Telegram the festivities are a recipe for super-spreader events.
During a City Council discussion on the report, Councilman Cary Moon questioned why the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo canceled when other rodeo events, like the National Finals Rodeo and a Professional Bull Riders event.
Crum surmised stock show organizers see the event as a community function, not just a rodeo.
“When they looked at how they gather crowds of people together in very limited spaces, not necessarily on the rodeo side, but on the stock show side, they felt the responsibility to cancel this year,” Crum said.
This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 4:09 PM.
