The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo canceled its 2021 season Wednesday, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related financial pressures, depriving the region of one if its signature events for the second year in a row.
The Rodeo initially had moved the monthlong event from March to May, hopeful coronavirus cases would wane by then. With most Texans unlikely to have access to a COVID-19 vaccine before late spring or summer, and projections showing a limited-capacity rodeo would fail to break even, organizers decided the best decision would be to cancel the event altogether.
“You look inside the stadium where six-foot distancing would be in play, and you end up in a situation similar to the Texans, where, basically, you can get to 20 percent capacity,” RodeoHouston CEO Chris Boleman said. “As you might expect, when you start looking at the numbers, it becomes very difficult to financially move forward.”
He called the decision “extremely heartbreaking."
All concerts and entertainment, carnival and other attractions and activities are canceled. A handful of events, though, will continue as private events: the junior livestock and horse show competitions in March and the junior market auctions and Champion Wine Auction in May.
Boleman said RodeoHouston had signed contracts with hundreds of vendors and was negotiating with musical acts to fill 20 nights of entertainment. Organizers were unable to guarantee, however, that the Rodeo and shows would not again be canceled halfway through because of the virus; Mayor Sylvester Turner shuttered the 2020 event after just eight days after medical authorities confirmed community spread of the coronavirus.
“We certainly don’t want to experience ever again what happened in 2020, where you get set up and you have to tear down,” Boleman said. “That’s even more cost on everybody involved.”
The Rodeo’s annual revenue was $84 million last year, a 50 percent drop from 2019. The nonprofit refunded more than $55 million to vendors and season ticket holders because of the aborted season and reported an $11 million loss.
The livestock show’s scholarship program since 1957 has helped hundreds of students annually. Currently, 2,300 Texas college students are covered by an award.
The nonprofit explored how a pared-down season would depress receipts, though CFO Jennifer Hazelton described the process as a game of Jenga, since each revenue source is tied to another. Ticket holders to a concert, for example, also are likely to visit the carnival before or after the show.
“You could make something work, and forecast it, and make it look OK on an Excel spreadsheet, but there’s an awful lot of assumptions in there,” Hazelton said. “If we made any bad assumptions, things could get ugly pretty quickly.”
RodeoHouston had been in contact with Houston and Harris County officials about its 2021 plans since last summer, but had yet to seek formal approval for rescheduling the annual event for May. The city of Houston permits the event, though Harris County owns the NRG Park grounds where it is held annually.
County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who cautioned in December that the May idea could be unfeasible, applauded the organizers' decision to cancel.
"I know that when it comes to canceling events like this, it's never easy — particularly when there is so much at stake for local vendors and residents who have come to depend on the rodeo for scholarship, entertainment and business," Hidalgo said. "The truth is, the smarter we work to prevent the spread of COVID-19 now, the faster we can get back to normal.”
Mayor Sylvester Turner commended the rodeo for sticking with its commitment to award more than $21 million in student scholarships this year despite the cancellation.
Last year's event featured just eight concerts. Fans missed out on some of the season's biggest performers, including anticipated debuts by Lizzo, Gwen Stefani, Khalid and Marshmello.
K-pop group NCT 127, the final RodeoHouston performance of 2020, drew more than 62,000 fans. That number might have been higher if not for the growing fear of the coronavirus.
The only other time the entire event was canceled was in 1937, after the Sam Houston Hall was torn down. The venue was built for the 1928 Democratic National Convention and had hosted the Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock Exposition from 1932 to 1936. The event returned in 1938 to the newly built Sam Houston Coliseum with a rodeo, parade and carnival. Gene Autry was the first star entertainer in 1942.
The Rodeo directly supported 3,700 jobs in 2019 and generated $227 million in economic impact in 2019, according to a study by Economic Analytics Consulting commissioned by the Rodeo. It plans to return in 2022 for its 90th anniversary celebration.
zach.despart@chron.com
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