A contestant competes in the saddle bronc competition at the inaugural Battle Born Broncs event at Rafter 3C Arena in Fallon.
Courtesy Fernando Sam-Sin Photography
Fallon’s newest special event, Battle Born Broncs, is providing a big economic boost to Churchill County tourism revenues.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event features 60 of the nation’s top saddle bronc and bareback rodeo cowboys competing for $50,000 in prize money ($25,000 per event). Last year’s inaugural event, the first standalone PRCA event ever held in Nevada, was the first big event held at Churchill County’s new 75,000-square-foot, $14 million Rafter 3C Arena.
Although unrelated, Battle Born Broncs dovetails perfectly with the Reno Rodeo, which runs June 15-24 at the Reno Livestock Events Center. Event co-founders Darcie Spero and Ty Skiver said one reason why they created the event in 2022 was to draw cowboys to Northern Nevada ahead of the immensely popular Reno Rodeo.
“A lot of contestants travel, and if we could catch them on a Wednesday night before Reno started, we could get them all here,” said Skiver, a longtime western chaps and bootmaker whose signature clientele at Skiver Bootmakers are professional bronc-riding rodeo cowboys. “We are getting the top cowboys in the world in both events.”
Added Spero: “Our community is super supportive of it and is excited about it coming back.”
Darcie Spero and Ty Skiver
Spero told NNBW that after the inaugural event was sanctioned by the PRCA she had just three months to line up sponsors and wrangle a prize purse large enough to lure in the nation’s best bucking bronco and bareback riders a few days before the Reno Rodeo.
Although a host of regional sponsors donated cash, Spero said, she still only had about $28,000 to split between the two events. Fallon Mayor Ken Tedford stepped in and contributed an additional $11,000 per event for a total prize purse of $50,000.
“It was important because it helped them sell it as a PRCA event,” Tedford told NNBW. “They (the PRCA) have 100 rodeos in 100 days, and this event starts it all off. It helps bring more top riders to the event, which was important to enhance.
“They also had a short time frame last year to put it all together, and I thought they needed a little extra help. We stuck with it again this year.”
Added Spero: “Thanks to the City of Fallon and Mayor Ken Tedford, contestants will be competing for $50,000. It will be an incredible night, and we’re so grateful for the support of our community for helping us make it happen.”
The event has gained significant traction among Fallon residents and rodeo fans. Spero said all 60 sponsor tables have sold out, and ticket sales also are expected to sell out among 2,800 patrons. The event will be broadcast live on The Cowboy Channel.
Tiffany Picotte, co-owner of The Grid Fallon and the new The Grid Market & Brewery with her husband, Paul, hosted a rodeo Calcutta auction at the duo’s original location last year and had one of the restaurant’s highest-grossing weekday nights.
“It was a great event for a Tuesday night,” Picotte said. “We appreciate all the contestants coming in for meals during the few days they were in town.
“We are excited for events such as Battle Born Broncs because any new visitors are a huge plus,” she added. “This year we’re even more excited because it will give us a chance to get new visitors to our second location that just opened.”
There will be just minor changes from last year’s event, Spero noted. This year’s Battle Born Broncs will feature a PRCA rodeo youth camp on Tuesday night, along with a western market with local crafters and a host of regional food trucks. More than 80 youth have already registered for the rodeo camp, which is led by PRCA rodeo professionals.
Jane Moon, director of tourism and special events for the City of Fallon, said that having the clinic the night before Battle Born Broncs increases the headcount in Fallon for consecutive nights.
“Having the little cowboys clinic the night before the actual rodeo event on the following day draws people to stay in our hotels, and that is huge for our hotel and tourism dollars,” Moon said.
“This is the type of event that attracts high caliber competitors, and coming to Fallon and being known on that circuit is big for the City of Fallon,” she added. “We want to not only be known for our hospitality but also for our ability to host these types of events. We want to house these types of events (at Rafter 3C Arena) and make sure that Fallon is known as a place where you want to be to enjoy yourself. We have room to explore, and there are other things to come to Fallon for. This event might draw you here, but we welcome you to really look at the greater Fallon area and our art, culture and the outdoors.”
Rooms in Fallon for the week are proving harder to find than a set of keys dropped at Sand Mountain. Skiver said he’s been fielding phone calls for weeks from people asking where they can book rooms since the town is sold out.
A fair percentage of Fallon hotel rooms have gone to host event personnel, Spero added – it takes about 40 rodeo production crew and other industry professionals to put on the event. Thirty-year PRCA rodeo announcer Steve Kenyon from the Cowboy Channel, along with professional rodeo announcer Scott Grover, will be the announcers for Battle Born Broncs.
“The town is full,” Skiver said. “We have had people asking where they can get rooms in Fallon because we have got the hotels and motels all stuffed full.”
Fallon Mayor Tedford said there are slightly more than 500 hotel and motel rooms for rent in Fallon, though a portion of those rooms are always rented for longer stays by geothermal development workers and people working at Naval Air Station Fallon.
“An event like this increases hotel occupancy, and revenues at restaurants, gas stations and other small businesses,” Tedford said. “This event stretches into two-and-a-half days, and it also shows other (tourism) options that we have within the community.”
As the event gains additional traction, there won’t be any plans to add more events, Spero said. Battle Born Broncs is the only standalone PRCA event to feature both saddle bronc and bareback riding. Adding additional events would likely just water down the total prize purse, Skiver added.
The addition of several more stock contractors to supply horses, many of which have been to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, has also significantly boosted the pedigree of the stock pens.
“We just want to take care of these bucking horse riders as best we can,” Skiver said. “Now it’s not so much of a drawing contest as it is a riding contest.”