What Is the Texas Swing and Why Does It Matter for Rodeo Athletes?

January is here and that means one major thing for professional rodeo: the winter building rodeos are heating up. While there will also be large rodeos in the north at stock shows like the National Western (Denver, Colo.) or Black Hills (Rapid City, S.D.), one of the most profitable times in the rodeo season is the "Texas Swing." For Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's (PRCA) and Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) members looking to make the 2025 National Finals Rodeo, these rodeos are very much on their radar.

Rodeo is the only sport with no true "off season." One season ends and literally the next day, a new season begins. Before athletes even competed at the 2024 NFR, the 2025 season was over two months underway. As a new year begins, those athletes are already in the midst of working towards a 2025 NFR qualification.

Here are some rodeos you might want to keep an eye on (and watch on The Cowboy Channel!) in the upcoming months. From stock shows to Rodeo Houston, these are not only great events for the contestants, but also the fans. There are huge entertainment lineups at all of these great events.

Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo

Held in Odessa, Texas, January 2-11, this rodeo just wrapped up. Paying out over $235,000, Odessa kicked off the Texas Swing last week.

Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo

Fort Worth, Texas will host another major stock show and rodeo, January 24 - February 8. This will be one of the biggest rodeos of the year, paying out huge checks to rodeo athletes at the Dickies Arena. This rodeo has a bracket style where competitors advance to a semi-finals, with a last chance to qualify through the wild card round to the finals.

San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo

Held February 6-22 in San Antonio, Texas, this is another major rodeo in the Texas Swing, held at the Frost Bank Center. San Antonio also utilizes a bracket system, with semi-finals, wild card, and finals rounds.

RODEOHOUSTON

What can one even say about RODEOHOUSTON? Held at NRG Stadium, the payouts at RODEOHOUSTON are an enormous deciding factor in NFR qualifications every year. One rodeo athlete in each event will walk away $65,000 richer after the final round. This is new for 2025, as RODEOHOUSTON recently announced they were increasing the total payout. The richest regular season rodeo will pay out over $2.5 million this year.