San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo: Schedule, Format and What To Watch For

By Mike Snow @MichaelSnowTCC

The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo is back for its 74th edition spanning February 9-26. The rodeo has grown into one of the largest rodeos in the country with more than 1.3 million visitors entering the fairgrounds each year.

The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo has always been about giving back to the community, as shown by its more than $243 million in donations since its inception.

The Format

The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo is a bracket format with the rodeo broken into five separate brackets. Each bracket will have three rounds per bracket with the Top 4 money earners in each bracket advancing to the Semifinals. Those who do not advance to the Semifinals will then compete in a Wild Card Round where the top score and time will move on to the Semis.

The Semifinalists are split into two groups and will compete in a one-header where the Top 5 out of each Semifinal will move on to the Finals (ten total in the finals for each event) where the athlete with the most money earned at the end of the Finals will be crowned the Champion. In total, the rodeo will pay out $1,440,001 to competitors.

Sarodeo.com

What to Watch For

As is the case with the major rodeos in the Texas Swing, the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo is a good indication of how the rest of your season will go. In 2022 all but two champions of San Antonio went on to the NFR, one of which was Sage Kimzey who would have a season-ending injury, preventing him from competing at the NFR.

Looking through each bracket there are plenty of storylines to monitor.

Bracket 1 (Feb 9-11) You can watch several NFR competitors including Josh Frost in Bull Riding. Frost has been as good as any Bull Rider the last two seasons but has come up just short in both. In 2021 he finished second behind Sage Kimzey and in 2022 he finished runner-up to Stetson Wright. If Frost wants to finally capture his first Gold Buckle, a win in San Antonio will go a long way. Frost is coming off a win in Fort Worth where he earned over $23,000 and catapulted himself to fourth place in the world.

Bracket 2 (Feb 11-12) Tie-Down Roping in Bracket 2 has five 2022 NFR Qualifiers in it including the Top 3 in last year’s final standings. 2022 World Champion Caleb Smidt highlights the field followed by Shad Mayfield and Cory Solomon who finished No. 2 and 3 respectively. Riley Webb, who is currently No. 3 in the PRCA World Standings, and Macon Murphy are the other two NFR qualifiers competing in this loaded bracket.

Bracket 3 (Feb 13-15) Barrel Racing has a competitive field in Bracket 3 highlighted by Lisa Lockhart, Molly Otto, Leslie Smalygo, and Emily Beisel. Lockhart had a great showing at the 2022 NFR, finishing third in the Average and No. 4 in the World Standings.

Bracket 4 (Feb 17-18) Bareback Riding takes center stage in what is probably the most star-studded single event of any bracket. Bracket 4 features 2022 World Champion Jess Pope, polarizing superstar Rocker Steiner, and future Hall of Famer Kaycee Feild. The bracket also showcases seven-time NFR qualifiers, Tanner Aus and Ty Breuer.

Bracket 5 (Feb 20-22) JD Struxness will have to wait until late February to begin his title defense. At the 2022 San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Struxness earned over $20,000 and beat out soon-to-be World Champion Tyler Waguespack for the title. Waguespack will look to get revenge on Struxness as the two are the headliners in an impressive Steer Wrestling field in Bracket 5.

How to Watch & Broadcast Schedule

You can watch every performance LIVE on The Cowboy Channel and The Cowboy Channel+ App. For a full broadcast schedule click HERE.