Click Here To See This Year’s Perfect Pro Fantasy Rodeo Team Before It’s Too Late

It is almost time to kick off the NFR and your fantasy team deadline is here.

Hailey Kinsel and SIster at the Governor's Cup in Sioux Falls | Nathan Meyer Photography

The National Finals Rodeo for this season is finally here, and in less than two weeks the world champions will finally be crowned. While most of the western world is not competing there is a fun way to personally stay involved with fantasy rodeo.

Pro Fantasy Rodeo It is very similar to any fantasy game that is structured for professional sports. Pick your athlete and see how they fare against other teams. The way this works is that each in the top 15 is assigned a price value, with the No.1 contestant costing the most, $150,000. The price drops $10,000 until No.15, who is priced at $10,000.

The team consists of a competitor in each event, including two in the team roping, as one has to pick a header and heeler. By the time someone has made their team, they will have spent $600,000 and no more.

The Perfect Team

Bareback: Tilden Hooper, No.15 $10,000
Hooper snuck into the top 15 at the very end of the season to qualify for his 10th finals. Keep in mind that if there is someone to bet on towards the bottom, do it. You can't pick the No.1 contestant in every event.

This could be a huge underdog story as it is his first trip back since 2022, and as the bottom hole, he will be aggressive and ready to give Rocker Steiner a run for his money.

Tyler Waguespack | PRCA

Steer Wrestling: Tyler Waguespack, No.8 $80,000
Picking Wag doesn't feel like it needs to much explanation as he is a steal. This is his 11th trip to the Thomas & Mack and he will be competing for his sixth gold buckle in under a decade.

Header: Dustin Egusquiza, No.5 $110,000:
After a tough NFR last year, Egusquiza was on a mission this year as he started off 2025 with a big win at San Antonio and then never slowed down. He took home many wins, including the NFR Open as well as Canby.

Heeler: Johnathan Torres, No.15 $10,000
Being able to choose a different header and heeler means that you do not have to pick teammates which you shouldn't. It is tricky because if Egusquiza has a dominating finals, then it will be unfortunate not to pick up his partner, but if he doesn't, then you lose winnings on the heeling side too.

Torres is entering his fourth consecutive finals, and even though he didn't have big wins, he was a steady force all year long.

Saddle Bronc Riding: Stetson Wright, No.12 $40,000
Like Waguespack this is a steal, but maybe even a bigger one. Wright has already won a world title in the saddle bronc and took home big wins at Ogden, Gooding, and Walla Walla.

Tie Down Roping: Riley Pruitt, No.6 $100,000
Pruitt is on arguably the best horsepower he has had in his entire career. This is his first trip back since 2019 and he is ready to go win. The setup at Thomas & Mack is meant for cowboys to go fast and if anyone cracks the 7-second barrier this week, it will be him.

Hailey Kinsel | Fernando Sam-Sin

Barrel Racing: Hailey Kinsel, No.4 $120,000
The barrel racing pick was going to come down to either Mowry or Kinsel, but with the outbreak Mowry decided against bringing Jarvis, who took her to a gold buckle last year, but Kinsel will have Sister, and betting against them feels silly.

Bull Riding: Ky Hamilton, No.3 $130,000
There were four athletes who crossed the $300,000 barrier this year in the bull riding and Hamilton was one of them. Hamilton was absolutely unstoppable in the last two weeks of September as he took home the win at Puyallup, the Rough Rider Cup, and the Governor's Cup where he went five-for-five and took home almost $70,000.

This NFR is going to be a good one to watch with record-setting payouts. There is $36,000 up for grabs a night with everyone eyeing the average check which is over $94,000, with that much to win there is no season leader that is safe.

---