Lincoln event center prepping for a bigger high school rodeo starting this weekend

More than 1,800 cowboys and cowgirls are heading to Lincoln this weekend for the National High School Finals Rodeo.

The Sandhills Global Event Center is hosting the show. The number of rodeo athletes has grown this year, compared to 1,500 people in 2021. That was the last time Lincoln hosted the event.

“I was told back in 2021, because of COVID and stuff, a lot of people from the Canadian provinces weren't even able to come,” Marketing Manager Gina Nathan said. “And so, now that we don't have to deal with that anymore, we have a lot more people from outside of the country that are going to be able to come.”

Mexico, Canada, Guatemala, Australia, and New Zealand are all sending athletes to the competition this year, according to the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED). With more competitors, Nathan is expecting a large economic boost from the rodeo.

“We actually had our impact report done back in 2021, and it was figured that it was almost $18 million in economic impact across Nebraska,” she said. “So I would only imagine it to be even bigger than that.”

The crew visited last year’s high school rodeo in Rock Springs, Wyoming, to find ideas on how to improve the show and experience, Nathan said. DED also awarded two grants to help with facility improvements for this year’s event: a $5 million American Rescue Plan Act grant and a $5 million Shovel-Ready grant.

A human pandemic may be in the past, but the state fair and county fairs in Nebraska have been monitoring cattle disease outbreaks this year, like Theileria and the New World Screwworm. With horse diseases also popping up recently, the venue had to cancel a show at a separate event earlier this year.

“It wasn't even too long ago when there was kind of a sickness going on with some horses,” Nathan said. “We had to end up canceling one of our horse shows, because we don't want to risk anybody getting sick, and we don't want to risk spreading something like that.”

Veterinarians are on-site to monitor the situation and check on animals, she said. Nebraska ag officials are cautioning any livestock owners heading to shows this summer to ensure their animals are healthy and their equipment is clean.

The rodeo starts up on Sunday and runs through July 25. The event center will also host next year’s National High School Finals Rodeo.