This year's event recorded a total draw of 1,788,437 for general attendance. Overall rodeo attendance exceeded 1 million spectators at the Astrodome for the third consecutive year, with 1,013,100 recorded for 20 performances. Two rodeo performance attendance records were set--56,511 turned out on Valentine's Day to set an opening night record and a Go Tejano Day crowd of 61,969 set a record for a Sunday performance.
More than one-quarter of a billion dollars is generated throughout the world annually by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This figure ($250,479,933), which is computed with economic multipliers from direct expenditures of $84 million, stresses the tremendous financial strength and impact of this event. In the Houston marketing area alone, the direct expenditures are nearly $70 million each year yielding an economic impact of $206,778,000 when economic multipliers are used.
Houston's world championship rodeo competition drew 501 contestants competing in the Astrodome for a share of $709,739 in prize money. The All-Around Cowboy title was awarded to Joe Beaver of Huntsville, Texas. He earned a Houston Rodeo paycheck of $27,810.68, which included $25,000 in bonus money, after competing in calf roping and team roping.
The newest educational attraction to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo became a favorite for children and adults. Constant crowds gathered to see the actual hatching of chicks and nursing pigs, and to feel virgin wool and mohair before the weaving process takes place.
Elvis Presley and Charley Pride were the 1997 inductees to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Star Trail, an area dedicated to honoring premier entertainers who have made a significant impact on the Show. Presley made eight appearances at the Rodeo in the 1970s, setting attendance records that stood for more than eight years. Pride, who last performed at the Houston Rodeo in 1991, played before 1.2 million fans during 36 performances.
The junior market auctions were exciting places to be this year. The enthusiastic crowds set four world records: the Reserve Grand Champion Steer sold for $195,000; the Grand Champion Lamb went for $130,000; the Reserve Grand Champion Lamb for $63,000; and the Grand Champion Barrow brought in $85,000.
Gov. George W. Bush and former President George Bush made appearances at the Show this year. On Feb. 27 Gov. Bush and a group of Texas legislators listened to student representatives from 4-H and FFA tell how the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo had affected their lives through the Show's Educational Fund. The guests at Sunday's March 2 Rodeo performance received a surprise when former President Bush joined Show President Jim Bloodworth on the floor of the Astrodome. Both men drew hearty applause as they welcomed the crowd to the last performance of the 1997 season.
For 19 consecutive days, the 6,000-seat Astroarena hosted prestigious equine competition in seven breeds. Entries from across the globe competed for a share in prize money topping $250,000. The National Cutting Horse Association held its finals in the Astroarena Feb. 13 - 16, and was considered the best pure cutting horse show of the year. This prestigious contest is a by-invitation-only event limited to the top 15 open and non-professional money earners of the previous year. The sixth annual Premier Horse Sale posted sales of $293,500.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is a household name in Texas, but its international reach continues to grow each year. In 1997, 2,656 guests from 71 countries attended the Show. As part of the Show's continuing involvement in the global market, the International Livestock Congress hosted seminars on preventing and managing crises in the beef and horse industries. Speakers were brought in from Canada, England, Mexico and the United States to address this important issue.
The junior market auctions sales totaled $4,636,124, a slight increase over last year's sales. The junior market auctions were comprised of the following: steer ($2,400,050), swine ($784,075), lamb ($709,725) and poultry ($510,800). The junior commercial steer sale raised $231,474. Total auction sales (including the Premier Horse Sale and the School Art Auction) tallied in at $7,382,934, a 3.53 percent increase over last year's total of $7,122,435.
Kids, kids and more kids. This year's livestock show had a total of 19,234 youth entries from all over Texas. This number included the participants of the junior livestock show, eight judging contests and the Agricultural Mechanics Project Show. FFA and 4-H students, and Directions and Assistance Committee members gave tours to 11,887 students ranging in age from kindergarten through fifth grade. To help children who were financially unable to attend the show, the Carnival Ticket Sales Committee and the Group Ticket Sales Committee raised $83,316 toward the purchase of livestock show and carnival tickets.
Gov. Bush and 26 Texas legislators spent the day at the Show as part of a program called "Shared Visions." This program was designed by the Greater Houston Partnership and other organizations and institutions in Houston to educate legislative leaders about the significant relationship that exists between Houston and the rest of the state of Texas. Legislators visited with 4-H and FFA scholarship recipients, junior exhibitors and Show officials to better understand the Show's impact across the state.
Mounted Color Guard This is the second year that the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard has performed at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo during the national anthem festivities at each rodeo performance. Based in Barstow, Calif., the riders are all volunteers and perform during their off time. The four horses used are former wild mustangs, captured in northern Nevada and then tamed and trained for at least one year.
Nasty weather may have slowed the momentum of the 1997 Show, but the good news is that despite virtually continuous bad weather conditions, Rodeo attendance topped 1 million and junior auction prices broke records. The 1997 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo World's Championship Bar-B-Que contest resulted in large and enthusiastic crowds, attendance of 145,973 was still the second highest ever behind the all-time high of 176,184 set in 1996.
Even the Johnson Space Center takes time off to enjoy the festivities of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Show President Jim Bloodworth introduced George Abbey, Director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Vladimir Utkin, who represented the Russian Space Delegation, during opening ceremonies at the Rodeo on Feb. 20. Abbey and Utkin presented special commemorative plaques and flags that were carried in the recent Shuttle mission and on the Russian space station Mir.
RodeoHouston once again delivered three action-packed performances featuring seven music superstars and the best cowboys and cowgirls in the rodeo world. For the 1997 year, shows were available on cable and satellite in every part of the United States, Canada and parts of Latin America.
The Western Heritage Gallery was filled to capacity with wonderfully creative winning quilt and photography contest entries and school art projects. Commercial art exhibits, all with a Western theme, were also quite popular with visitors.
The Show sold a record 1.1 million rodeo tickets.
The Sheep Dog Trials were immensely popular as they entertained capacity crowds for two nights in the Astrohall's main arena on Feb. 16 and 17. This was the first show of its kind at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and from the enthusiastic response received, not the last.
This year's Show had many firsts and among them was the Top Hands Horse Show. Six groups of physically-and mentally-challenged horse enthusiasts competed in 18 classes ranging from showmanship at halter to barrel racing. Coordinated by the Special Children's Committee, the show was an outstanding success due to the superior riders who are continuously breaking the barriers in their lives by exhibiting courage and pride in their accomplishments.
Another successful attraction this year was Rodeo University. Children and adults alike experienced the feel of being on the Astrodome floor during a rodeo and received "honorary" degrees after learning about the different aspects of the sport of rodeo.
Through a special agreement between the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, nearly 1 million men and women of the United States Armed Forces around the world were able to view the Rodeo finals broadcast by RodeoHouston. It was the Show's way of saluting these men and women of valor.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo unveiled two Internet websites, www.hlsr.comand www.rodeohouston.com, during this year's Show. Through the last day of the Show, the two sites combined received more than 1.3 million "hits."
Kiosks, signs, maps, color coding, the Show's visitors guide, information network video monitors and committee volunteers successfully directed this year's crowd around the various attractions and exhibits.
In only its second year, the school art auction shattered last year's record with $460,400 in sales, an increase of 81 percent. The Grand Champion piece of artwork went for $100,000 ($40,000 last year) while the Reserve Grand Champion painting sold for $50,000 ($26,000 in 1996). Both of these set world records as well.
Zebus were only one of the many cattle breeds entered in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This year's livestock show and horse show boasted 33,367 entries, an increase over last year's entries of 32,078.
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