Whoa! Rodeo finals hit their stride

The electric bronco at Gilley’s is gone along with the rubble at the recently razed New Frontier, but bull riders can still get their jolts here if they’re willing to try the real thing.

The Super Bowl of rodeo is coming to town Dec. 6 to 15, and with the lineup of bone-breaking competitions comes the handsome ranch hands in tall Stetsons, big buckles and pointy snakeskin boots to give Vegas a Marlboro man sheen for a few days.

The National Finals Rodeo has been crowning the annual ProRodeo competitions in Las Vegas since 1985 (when the event moved from Oklahoma City). Since that time, prize money has grown to $5.5 million.

With such big purses at stake, it’s no wonder that about 176,000 fans, fun-seekers and cowboy wannabes pour into town to watch the recalcitrant horses and fierce fighting bulls jettison their riders with the force of a head-on highway crash.

“If you’re a cowboy, the NFR is the gold at the end of the rainbow,” says Pat Christenson, president of Las Vegas Events, which produces the finals. “These guys have gone through a long season of competitions, and this is the best of the best with the best of the stock. And you don’t have to be a rodeo buff to appreciate what you are seeing.”

Last year at the finals, world champion and all-around cowboy Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, won a record $329,924 on the way to collecting his fourth all-around buckle and fifth world title.

“Contestants can earn more than $1 million in a year if they make it to the NFR. They easily double their money because the purses are so high,” says Christenson.

The rodeo competitions include bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing and bull riding.

And it’s not just cow “boys” who run the ring. This year’s roster includes 15 cowgirls who will be competing in the finals’ barrel racing championships.

The events take place in two primary venues: the Thomas & Mack Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the South Point Resort and Casino. Single “Mad Dash” tickets at Thomas & Mack cost $40 to $250 with no guarantees of actual seating (but full refunds or admission to other events are promised through NFRExperience.com, the official website of the event). Higher “Goldbuckle” seats go for close to $1,000 and often sell out well in advance.

Shuttles will take people from venue to venue, and the city’s monorail system will offer discounted rides to the Cowboy Christmas gift show that will run Dec. 6 to 15 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

At South Point Resort, fans can watch the rodeo and enjoy free entertainment and dance hall events, as well as a multi-day Miss Rodeo America Pageant. (The winner will be crowned Dec. 8 at the Orleans.) Those looking for the latest look in cowboy chic should head to the Cowboy Marketplace Western Lifestyle Expo Dec. 7 to 15 at Mandalay Bay.

When the cattle are corralled and the broncos put to bed, the guitars come out.

But Vegas being Vegas, country bars and two-step dance houses have morphed into a new kind of back-at-the-ranch experience: the cowboy ultra-lounge.

Stoney’s Rockin’ Country runs Tuesdays through Saturdays with doors opening at 7 p.m. The colossal 20,000-square-foot nightclub, launched in September, can fit 1,000 people and has a dance floor the size of a barn, the requisite mechanical bull, two bars, pool tables, a three-lane bowling alley, a $250,000 sound system and a VIP ultra lounge for cowboys with discerning tastes.

It also has ladies nights, $20 all-you-can-drink draft beer specials and live acts such as SoCal’s Michael Austin, and the Thunder Road Band. Toby Keith’s opening act, Flynville Train, popped in late one night, and other national acts are in the offing.

Hotel hot spots during the 10-day event include Texas Station, Binion’s, Sam’s Town, Silverton, South Point and the Gold Coast.

Christenson notes that 50% of the people who come in for the rodeo finals are new to the experience. For this reason, he says, the championship is not just about the tickets; it’s about a happening.

“Cowboys and ranch hands are just finishing up the season and . . . this is . . . the party they need to have when it’s all over,” he says.

“For the rest of us, it’s the chance to wear the hat and boots, and be a cowboy for a week.”

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On travel.latimes.com

Saddle up. A photo gallery offers a glimpse of past competitions, at latimes.com/lasvegasrodeo.