Big Changes Coming for the Daddy of ‘em All in 2026 — by Wayne Hassinger, Photojournalist — 3H Photography/3H Rodeo

How did we slip into June already? I swear I started writing this blog in March, had it nearly completed in early May, and we’re already into June?!! We’re now into the summer run, so I’d better hurry up and get my thoughts shared on the big changes coming to Cheyenne Frontier Days.

There are a lot of great storylines so far this season with the PRCA announcing the move to Cheyenne: Rusty Wright going on a heater early on, Shad Mayfield taking more time to have his other hip operated on, and most recently Ky Hamilton & Hayden Welsh being drafted onto PBR Teams  while keeping the PRCA their priority. However, one of the biggest stories of the new rodeo season is the upcoming changes at the Daddy of ‘em All. I have been waiting for the announcement since Finals Sunday when several “in the know” folks were discussing that the timed events were going to be invitation only in 2026. At that time, it was just scuttlebutt with no details, but now we have the details for this year’s Daddy of ‘em All.  I’ve listened to a number of interviews from all perspectives, so now I’ll chime in with my thoughts on the topic.  

Cheyenne Frontier Days recently announced some evolutionary changes for the 2026 celebration, and those changes have elicited a wide range of emotional reactions. I will offer a brief level of detail regarding the 2026 changes at the Dad, but I will also share a link to one of the most comprehensive explanations I’ve run across:  https://www.wyomingnewsnow.tv/news/cheyenne-frontier-days-updates-its-format-for-2026-eliminating-qualifying-slack-rounds/article_e9d43b79-b94e-4d99-85bd-cf76b353c0ea.html

My intention here is to offer some thoughts and perspective from a Cheyenne & CFD native that has spent 50 plus years on that hallowed ground in various capacities. I fully appreciate that some will agree and some will disagree, but we can probably all agree on the fact that change (otherwise known as evolution) is inevitable.

Most cowboys & cowgirls didn’t like the switch to a tournament-style format in 2019, so this modification to the tournament-style format is not being well received either. Unfortunately, the change and thus the new modification have nothing to do with the cowboys & cowgirls as it has everything to do with the show, the tourists, and ultimately the money. The intention of moving to the tournament format was to make the rodeo easier for fans to follow with consistent, high-level daily competition culminating in a “Championship Sunday.” To be sure, there are also some very practical reasons to modify the set-up, but those aren’t getting as much press as the drama about the impact to the contestants.

Let’s start from the top:  Starting this year, there will be 10 consecutive days of professional rodeo at The Dad. While CFD has always been known to happen the last 10 days in July, it’s only had 9 days of PRCA pro rodeo. The distinction is PRCA rodeo, as there were a few years where the first Friday of CFD showcased the Cinch Rodeo Shootout. Nonetheless, we’re now talking 10 straight days of pro rodeo action which enhances the experience for fans and contestants. More rodeo is always a good thing, and adding a performance to the greatest outdoor rodeo makes it even better.

Next up – higher payouts! CFD has increased prize money from $770,000 to $960,000 which keeps this western celebration near the top with one of the richest payouts in pro rodeo. In a vacuum, this is a good thing, but it gets more complicated in the various arguments about these changes. More money is more money – hard stop. Many have not understood how there could be more money with fewer contestants paying entry fees, but CFD revenue comes from more places than entry fees with sponsors, ticket sales, and actual cost savings realized from having fewer contestants brings the full picture into focus.

Here’s some more information about the number of contestants. This year’s modification to the format eliminates slack and replaces that qualifying format with a qualifying-based system using selected rodeos across the country. This change impacts all the timed events but does not apply to the roughstock events that have not been part of the slack process. This is without question one of the biggest pivot points as CFD has always been an open entry rodeo for any PRCA permit or card-carrying member. Eliminating slack and thus limiting entries in the timed events has upside for the stock contractors, producers, and volunteers, and obviously has some downside for the cowboys & cowgirls. In recent years, cattle availability has been a huge issue, so CFD and the stock contractors are going to welcome the opportunity to secure less livestock for the 10-day event. Slack requires more days on the park for volunteers (remember, CFD is largely operated by 2,500 volunteers), so 3-5 fewer days at the park is going to be welcomed by volunteers who take vacation from their careers to work the world’s largest outdoor rodeo. The cowboys & cowgirls are the ones most negatively impacted, especially those that are outside the top 60 in their event. Many a young cowboy or cowgirl that wants to ride in Cheyenne will now have to qualify to do so, and that is a huge shift from tradition. While I understand the reasoning, I will miss slack for several reasons, some traditional and some practical. I grew up going to CFD slack at Frontier Park, and we loved it because we enjoyed more freedom to roam the grounds and see the cowboy action close-up. Many Cheyenne residents attend slack every year because it is free to attend and offered many locals a taste of the rodeo without having to fight the crowds or pay for tickets. Practically, I will miss it as I loved capturing the roping, barrels, and bulldogging action from numerous angles that are not accessible during the performances.

Everything evolves, and rodeo rigs are no different. When I was a young cowboy, 3-4 of us were piling into a single cab pickup and traveling hours down the road to the next rodeo. “Timeies” and “barrel chasers” were pulling bumper-pull 2-horse trailers behind their single cab pickups, and a lot of times there were 3 in the pickup with 2 horses. Check out the parking lot these days:  Crew cab duallies pulling gooseneck 6-8 horse rigs with sleeping quarters. I share this evolution because a big issue at Frontier Park is space – parking space as well as barn space. The belief is that this format enhancement will alleviate much of the space problems at the park, and therefore it served as another reason to make the change.

Cheyenne isn’t the first pro rodeo to go this direction, and no doubt it won’t be the last. Change is inevitable and it can be difficult. Holding onto the past doesn’t always allow us to move forward, but it is a tragedy to lose traditions and forget our history. The Dad isn’t even the rodeo from my childhood, let alone what it was over a hundred years ago. I was raised in the western lifestyle, so I want the history and traditions preserved. I know that those traditions are still alive in the numerous small-town rodeos I capture through my lens every summer, but the Daddy of ‘em All is now an international attraction. It’s rodeo Disneyland where tourists are attracted to much more than the rodeo, and many of them have never been to a rodeo before. Cowboys & cowgirls still covet the Cheyenne buckle due to its history, but also because a win in Cheyenne can propel a cowboy into the top 15 and guarantee a trip to the NFR. You see, no matter which filter you look through, you see the history as well as the current situation battling it out.

CFD – the Daddy of ‘em All – steeped in history and tradition celebrating the western way of life and rodeo for 130 years. Every cowboy & cowgirl wants to win Cheyenne. Generations of cowboys & cowgirls have competed on the hallowed CFD ground. The question becomes:  How do you balance all the history and tradition with the demands of fans with short attention spans and little rodeo knowledge that are buying rodeo & concert tickets as well as buying hotel rooms and feeding the local economy during the last 10 days of July?

I don’t have any of the answers, but I do have some opinions. Pro rodeo is a professional sport, and while they have a long way to go to ensure all cowboys and cowgirls are paid as professional athletes, it is still pro rodeo. In light of that, cowboys and cowgirls need to earn their way to the biggest stages where the largest payouts are. I love baseball, I played A LOT of baseball, I was good at baseball, and I wanted to play at Yankee Stadium. The problem is that I wasn’t good enough to earn my way to the opportunity to play at Yankee Stadium. I think it’s okay that those in the rodeo game have to earn their way to compete at the Daddy of ‘em All.

From Wayne: As an aside, I’d invite all of you to check out the June/July edition of Rodeo Life Magazine as it has a great article on Cheyenne Frontier Days that features 8-10 of my CFD images.

All text and photos copyright 3H Photography/3H Rodeo, Wayne Hassinger. Follow 3H Photography & 3HRodeo … website Facebook Instagram @3hphotography