1 rodeo
- Greeley Stampede Greeley, CO Jun 25, Jul 5 Marquee
50 days out · 6 rodeos · 5 states
Cowboy Christmas.
Ten days. Fifty-plus rodeos. The week the entire pro rodeo calendar bends around. June 28 through July 7. Top cowboys can earn more in this stretch than the rest of the season combined, and the cutline math at the bottom of the standings always shifts here. Schedule, purses, and the logistics of how riders get to four rodeos in a week.
Top of the purse
The highest-paying rodeos in the window. Cowboy Christmas math starts here.
- #1 Calgary Stampede Calgary, AB NFR-tier
- #2 Cody Stampede Cody, WY Major
- #3 Greeley Stampede Greeley, CO Marquee
- #4 St. Paul Rodeo St. Paul, OR Marquee
- #5 Prescott Frontier Days Prescott, AZ Marquee
- #6 Molalla Buckeroo Molalla, OR Pro
The full calendar
6 rodeos, by start date.
3 rodeos
- Cody Stampede Cody, WY Jul 1-4 Major
- St. Paul Rodeo St. Paul, OR Jul 1-4 Marquee
- Prescott Frontier Days Prescott, AZ Jul 1-5 Marquee
1 rodeo
- Molalla Buckeroo Molalla, OR Jul 2-5 Pro
1 rodeo
- Calgary Stampede Calgary, AB Jul 3-12 NFR-tier
How a cowboy hits four rodeos in a week
01
Plan the rotation in May
Entries open weeks before each rodeo. Top cowboys and their bookers route a week that pairs small evening rodeos in adjacent states with a flagship stop or two. The route is filed by mid-May.
02
Charter the plane
Roughstock riders pool money on a King Air or Pilatus that can hit two or three small airfields in a night. Saddle bronc and bareback riders share more often; bull riders sometimes solo-charter for safety. Flight legs run an hour or two each.
03
Truck the horses overnight
Ropers and steer wrestlers can\'t fly the horses, so a hand drives the rig overnight while the cowboy flies ahead. Two-truck rotations are common. The horse rests at the next venue while the cowboy works tonight\'s round.
04
Sleep in two-hour windows
Performance to chute to plane to truck to performance. Cowboys catch sleep in airport FBO lobbies and rig bunks. By July 5 most riders are running on adrenaline and protein bars; the bodies that hold up are the ones that win.
Frequently asked
What is Cowboy Christmas?
Cowboy Christmas is the unofficial name for the week of July 4 in pro rodeo. Roughly 50 PRCA rodeos run simultaneously between June 28 and July 7 each year, paying out tens of millions in added money. Top cowboys hit four or five rodeos in the week by chartering small planes and trading driving shifts between performances. The week often determines who finishes the regular season inside the top 15 NFR cutline.
Why is it called Cowboy Christmas?
The phrase dates to the 1970s. Patriotic-weekend rodeos pay more added money than any other stretch of the regular season, so a cowboy on a hot run can earn enough in seven days to clear his entry fees, fuel, and travel for the rest of the year. It's the closest pro rodeo gets to a stockholder bonus.
When is Cowboy Christmas 2026?
The 2026 Cowboy Christmas window runs June 28 through July 7, 2026. 6 sanctioned rodeos run in that window across 5 states.
How do cowboys hit four or five rodeos in a week?
Charter planes, mostly. PRCA rodeos publish entry deadlines and performance times months in advance, so contestants and their bookers route a week that combines small evening rodeos in adjacent states. Roughstock riders share planes; ropers truck their horses overnight on team-roping rigs. The PRCA Sports News publishes "rotation lists" of who entered which rodeo at which performance.
Which Cowboy Christmas rodeos pay the most?
The top-paying nfr-tier rodeos in the 2026 window: Calgary Stampede in Calgary, AB; Cody Stampede in Cody, WY; Greeley Stampede in Greeley, CO; St. Paul Rodeo in St. Paul, OR; Prescott Frontier Days in Prescott, AZ.