As pro rodeo considers moving HQ to Wyoming, conservative lawmakers question incentives

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Rodeo ‘s biggest organizing body, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, has all but decided to move its headquarters from Colorado to Wyoming, the state with a bucking horse logo, the University of Wyoming Cowboys and the world’s largest outdoor rodeo.

There’s just one possible hitch: Conservative state lawmakers in Wyoming who balk at government funding for private enterprise. Enough of them could scuttle a $15 million state enticement for the PRCA to seal the deal.

Just like in pro rodeo, the money at stake could go all the way to the final round when Wyoming lawmakers hash out a state budget during a four-week legislative session that begins Feb. 9.

Wyoming loves rodeo, the official state sport, said state Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams. She’s chairwoman of the powerful Freedom Caucus, which lists almost a quarter of the Wyoming House as members and has many others in the chamber voting as allies.

“What Wyoming doesn’t love is when multimillion-dollar corporations attempt to blackmail the taxpayers for handouts,” Williams said in a text message Thursday. “We’re happy to welcome the PRCA to the Cowboy State, but would hope they’d come the cowboy way — on their own dime.”

Williams is from Cody, which lost out to Cheyenne last week when the PRCA board voted to “seriously consider” moving its headquarters there. The PRCA’s ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy would also leave Colorado Springs, where the organization has been based since 1979.

Each July, Wyoming’s capital city of 65,000 gets over 100,000 visitors to Cheyenne Frontier Days, a Western-themed festival and rodeo billed as the biggest of its kind anywhere. Some 3,000 volunteers staff the event, keeping costs down and civic pride high.

The plan to move the PRCA to Cheyenne likewise leans on charity. Wyoming’s $15 million would be matched with $15 million from Cheyenne LEADS, the city’s economic development organization.

It’s pocket change compared to publicly funded incentives elsewhere, which don’t always get approved.

In Wyoming, Freedom Caucus lawmakers have also recently supported defunding the Wyoming Business Council, a state agency that facilitates loans for business development. They seek significant state spending cuts in the upcoming budget.

Gov. Mark Gordon, who like Williams is a Republican but who is not aligned with the Freedom Caucus, supports both keeping the Business Council and state help for the PRCA move.

“Rodeo has been a part of Wyoming since before we were a state. It is in our DNA,” Gordon said in a statement announcing the PRCA vote.

But while Rep. Scott Heiner, a Freedom Caucus Republican from Green River, said he loved rodeo and would be glad to have the PRCA go to Wyoming, he doesn’t think the state should “pick winners or losers” by giving out funding to private enterprise.

“Businesses and industry should be able to stand on their own,” Heiner said. “If they have a valid reason to come to Wyoming and have the means to do that, I welcome them with open arms.”

Efforts by Wyoming officials to get the PRCA to move began last year. From here, it’s up to the Legislature for the move to be formalized, said Paul Woody, the PRCA’s chief marketing officer.

“It’s not a short-term decision. It’s where we need to be in 50 years,” Woody said.

Colorado Springs, meanwhile, is standing down after the city and community organizations offered to help renovate and promote the PRCA hall of fame and cowboy museum.

“We made our pitch, we made our presentation. We await whatever happens,” city spokesperson Jason Strickland said.

A study showed that landing the PRCA would net a $253 million economic benefit to Wyoming over a decade, said Rachelle Zimmerman, director of business recruitment and retention for Cheyenne LEADS.

“We feel like this is the perfect project,” Zimmerman said. “I think the majority of Wyoming supports this.”