About the All American ProRodeo Series
The inaugural year of the All American ProRodeo Series rolled out with more than 400 rodeos – all PRCA-sanctioned rodeos with added money of $30,000 or less – and more than $465,000 in the purse in the All American ProRodeo Finals presented by Pendleton Whisky. As cowboys across the country realized the earnings and career-advancing potential of the finals, entries in All American ProRodeo Series rodeos across the country rose 5.3 percent in 2010.
The top-ranked 30 cowboys in the All American ProRodeo Series standings in each event who qualified (by competing in at least 30 All American ProRodeo Series rodeos during the 2010 season) advanced to the finals in Waco. The mix of up-and-coming talent, veteran circuit cowboys and some national-level competitors made for an interesting field, so fans were enthralled as the October 2010 All American ProRodeo Finals offered a season-ending chapter fit for the storybooks. Several competitors set Extraco Events Center arena records: bareback rider Micky Downare, team ropers Tommy Edens and Justin Hendrick and tie-down roper Scott Kormos, who took home $15,488, the most won at the Finals by any person in the 209-contestant field. Winners also included permit holder Derrick Peterson, who partnered with Casper May in the team roping.
The All American ProRodeo Series serves two primary purposes: offering newly professional and weekend cowboys a chance to win more money at smaller rodeos and offering them a chance at a very large purse if they choose to pursue it. The PRCA depends on its members who rodeo in addition to their 8-5 jobs, and wants to make it easier and potentially more profitable for those cowboys to rodeo. PRCA Commissioner Karl Stressman hopes that up to half of PRCA contestants opt to go to an additional 10 rodeos a year in order to get the opportunity to be able to run at a great payoff in Waco. He also notes that the All American ProRodeo Series is structured to give up-and-coming cowboys more chances to win. “If you go up against (multi-year world champions) Bobby Mote and Trevor Brazile every time, it makes it tough to win," says Stressman. "Our younger and weekend cowboys need the opportunity to compete without our top pros sometimes, and the All American ProRodeo Series gives them that.”
The All American ProRodeo Series replaced the Heartland ProRodeo Series, which had slightly different rules and was centered around Texas rodeos. Because All American ProRodeo Series rodeos are distributed across the country, PRCA cowboys everywhere can take a shot at making it to Waco by competing in at least 30 All American rodeos, and All American ProRodeo Series rodeos can expect to attract a greater number and range of contestants, because contestants earn 50 points for each All American ProRodeo Series rodeo at which they compete, and a point for each dollar they earn at a series rodeo. And cowboys can leverage their Waco earnings, because money earned at Waco counts toward qualification for limited-entry rodeos for the next season.
The All American ProRodeo Series is one of five PRCA national series and tours, each of which culminates in its own championship. The others are the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo (DNCFR); the Seminole Hard Rock Xtreme Bulls Tour Finale; the Justin Boots Playoffs and Championships of the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour; and the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.