slogan<\/a> of \u201cGo to Dallas for education; come to Fort Worth for entertainment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nMurray says data shows that the average stock show attendee spends about 3.9 nights in town if visiting the show and spending about $75 daily on food and beverages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fort Worth\u2019s equestrian, cattle and other ranching-related events are not limited to the stock show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The National Reined Cow Horse Association moved from California to Texas and increased its events in Fort Worth, said Emily Konkel, executive director of the association. Its two events at the Will Rogers complex are the Snap Bit Futurity and the World\u2019s Greatest Horseman, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pam Minick, a Fort Worth businesswoman and co-owner of Billy Bob\u2019s Texas who was emcee of the panel discussion, described the latter event as \u201cmotocross meets wrestling and then adds in a little bit of bullfighting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Snap Bit Futurity event was moved from Las Vegas to Fort Worth in 2017. Both of the association\u2019s events attract a crowd, Minick said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are surprised at how many people actually come in from out of state to those events and actually make their home here for at least three weeks of that,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kurt Crawford, director of business development for the American Paint Horse Association, noted that his group has been based in Fort Worth for some time, but a recent move to the Fort Worth Stockyards has raised its profile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were based at Meacham airport, we had about 500 people that would come to our office every year, including the FedEx person, the mailman, everybody else,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When it moved the Stockyard\u2019s mule alley in 2020, bringing with them life-size sculptures of paint horses, the group saw between 130,000 to 140,000 visitors and received some social media exposure too, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Jonas Brothers did a concert right there in front of the sculptures,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Western equine and rodeo events have also seen an increase in the Stockyards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Cowtown Coliseum, which in 2022 had about 76 events annually, has 279 planned for the next year, said Tim Long, general manager at the 118-year-old building.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2022, I believe there was about $4 million in revenue from the building,\u201d he said. This year, he expects that to hit $28 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coliseum upgrades are part of the second phase of stockyard improvements planned by Fort Worth Heritage, the joint venture between Majestic Realty Co. and Hickman Companies that is redeveloping the historic area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A challenge in making those improvements is keeping the historic components of the building that was home of the world\u2019s first indoor rodeo in 1918 as well as a concert by famed tenor Enrico Caruso in 1920, Long said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Iconic events continue to occur there, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you haven\u2019t been down there in the past couple of years, you haven\u2019t seen the building and what it\u2019s capable of doing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt does a lot more than just the equine events, too. We did the Major League Baseball draft in that building last year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Long says he expects to see more investment in the Stockyards with visitors to the area numbering 10.4 million annually up from 3 million just a few years ago, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a whole different world down there now,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.\u00a0At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\nThis <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/01\/15\/western-sports-spurring-economic-growth-in-fort-worth\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
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