Leadership Change Coming for Cheyenne Frontier Days in 2027 as CEO Tom Hirsig Prepares to Step Aside

Tad Herz knew this day would eventually come. That didn’t make it any less difficult.

On Thursday, Cheyenne Frontier Days formally announced that longtime CEO Tom Hirsig would be stepping aside following the 2027 event, vacating the leadership role at one of ProRodeo’s biggest and most historic events.

Herz, a member of the CFD Board of Directors since 2021 and the current Chair, figured the move would come one day. After all, Hirsig has served in the CEO role since 2015. He just hoped the change might be delayed a bit longer.

“For my own personal kind of selfish thinking, I was thinking, ‘Well, at least he’ll be around through my time.’ Now here I am talking to you about his replacement,” Herz said with a laugh. “It’s one of those things where you always know it’s a potential, but you just hope he’s got one more year. Then one more year. Then one more year. But that adds up. And Tom’s at that point in his career where he wants to ride a different horse.”

Hirsig’s Deep History in Cheyenne

Hirsig’s rise to the top spot in CFD’s organizational structure has often felt like a Hollywood script about a local kid finding his place in the world. Hirsig’s family (great-great uncle) was part of the co-founding group that established the rodeo in 1897.

A Cheyenne native, Hirsig ventured over the hill for college, competing for the University of Wyoming rodeo team where he was a three-time College National Finals Rodeo qualifier as a steer roper.

Hirsig earned his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association card, claiming the Mountain States Circuit steer roping title three times and finishing as high as sixth in the world back in 1984.

A longtime CFD volunteer, he served as arena director starting in 1992 and was the Contestants Committee chair from 2001-03. In 2002, he became the first Cheyenne native, active CFD volunteer and committee chairman to compete at and win Frontier Days, taking home the coveted little buckle from his hometown rodeo.

A former member of the CFD Board of Directors, Hirsig was announced as CEO in November 2014 and officially took over those duties in January 2015. He previously led the Wyoming Insurance Commission after being appointed to the role in 2012.

“His attachment to Cheyenne and the show – I don’t think we’ll ever find anybody that has those types of attachments. That’ll be hard to do,” Herz said of Hirsig’s deep roots to CFD.

Bringing Progress to the Old West

During his tenure, Hirsig has been tasked with balancing Cheyenne’s history while also adapting to rodeo’s rapid growth.

Like most rodeos, Cheyenne has increased its payout to contestants. This past July, CFD paid out $960,000 in prize money, up from $770,000 the previous year.

He was an advocate for the addition of breakaway roping to the rodeo’s portfolio of events in 2019, making CFD among the first major PRCA/WPRA rodeo to hold the event as a sanctioned event.

He also helped bring the Women’s Ranch Bronc Championship world title competition to Cheyenne. The league refers to its regular season as “The Trail to Cheyenne” and a recently released documentary about the sport, which has played at multiple film festivals around the world, is called Cheyenne, in reference to their championship.

Hirsig also oversaw multi-million-dollar improvements throughout the park, including a $7 million sponsor building with CFD staff office space, an $8 million luxury deck at Chute 9, and the newly opened Morning Star American Indian Village, which celebrates the history of the area’s native tribes.

“All the changes that you see have been Tom driven changes – to the detail that he selected the place where our Morning Star American Indian village is right now. He came up with the vision of making that close to the Old West Museum and having the cultural center,” Herz said.

“Conventional wisdom would’ve been just to put it where the old village was. That obviously would’ve been the easiest thing to do. But I mentioned Tom’s vision. He thinks outside the box. I would tell you everything that we’ve done at the board level has been spurred by his out of the box ideas. His creativity is impressive to say the least.”

Growing Pains

While many of the changes have helped modernize or improve the CFD experience, not all have been received with enthusiasm.

Facility expansion has reduced on-site parking at the rodeo grounds, leading to contestants being asked to limit their stay, allowing for other competitors to come in, a complaint that made its rounds online the last few years.

Traditionally an aggregate format rodeo, CFD switched to a tournament style in 2019. In previous years, competitors would get two rides over back-to-back days and know if they had done well enough to return for Sunday's short-go championship.

The new structure gave competitors a clean slate each time they entered the arena. Similar to what numerous other rodeos have adopted around North America, the format is intended to be easier for spectators to follow but often causes headaches for cowboys and cowgirls trying to manage a rigorous travel schedule with multiple events in the same week.

The 2026 event marked the first year that pre-rodeo qualifying was not held for timed events like barrel racing, tie-down or team roping. Known as slack, CFD has a long history of being open to any card-carrying competitor who can pay the entry fee.

While many of the PRCA or WPRA’s biggest stars have captured the top prize, the format has also led to plenty of Cinderella stories, with upstarts earning time in the spotlight on one of ProRodeo's biggest stages.

In a Facebook post shared during CFD this July, Hirsig explained the decision as the tipping point of numerous factors, including the cost of livestock, limited space for additional contestants, and strain on volunteers and staff who make the event possible.

Now, all competitors at CFD earn their spot via a qualifying system, which includes their place in the world standings and winning or placing well at smaller, growing rodeos around the country. The system is similar to ones used by Houston or Calgary. Additionally, CFD added an extra day of competition to the schedule last summer, going for nine to 10 days of rodeo.

While still a regular finalist for the PRCA’s Large Outdoor Rodeo Committee of the Year, CFD has not won the title since 2014 after claiming the honor 16 times since 1993, including 11 straight from 2004-14. The organization was honored by the Academy of Country Music as its Fair/Rodeo of the Year back in August.

What’s Next?

Hirsig’s role overseeing the production will conclude following the 2027 event, giving the Board of Directors an opportunity to spend the next nine months finding the organization’s next leader.

Herz hopes to have that person in place by June 2027, allowing them to work alongside Hirsig in July for first-hand experience.

“I think that’ll be really important for whoever takes this job. Because what may be second nature to Tom won’t be for someone who’s coming in new to the show,” Herz said. He noted that while Wyoming connections would be a plus, the right candidate must ultimately understand and appreciate the culture around rodeo and the importance of the volunteer structure that has made CFD so successful.

Added Herz: “A leader is really important, and a leader is different from a manager. People manage processes, but they don’t necessarily manage people. You lead people and you manage processes. And I think that’s what we’re absolutely committed to make sure we have the best leader we can find and somebody that will have an appreciation for our community and this event that we all know in love.”

While change is coming to Cheyenne, Hirsig’s influence will certainly impact finding his replacement. The CFD Board of Directors will have the final say on who takes the reins moving forward, but according to Herz, Hirsig will be called upon as a resource while the hiring process unfolds.

“Oh, he’s going to be sitting right there at the table. We absolutely want him to evaluate these candidates. He knows better than anybody what the job is,” Herz said. “For us to do this without him would be quite foolish. Having that breath in depth of knowledge is quite critical.”

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