ERA Launches tour at Redmond, Oregon

World’s top rodeo athletes to kick off 2016 National Tour at the Bank of the Cascades Center, March 25-26. Tickets go on sale Monday, February 1st.

REDMOND — The High Desert Stampede is proud to host the Elite Rodeo Athletes, League of Rodeo Champions, which will kick off its national tour in Redmond, Oregon on March 25-26 at 7:30pm each night. Tickets will be on sale February 1st at 12 p.m. PST at www.highdesertstampede.com starting at $20 apiece.

“We are excited to host this elite event where the biggest names in rodeo will come to ride. We’ll be offering the first reserved seating at the Bank of the Cascades Center in many years. Three levels of seating are available, giving our audience a chance to choose how to experience this fantastic rodeo,” said Denis Fast, Chairman of Board, High Desert Stampede.

That’s right, three levels of seating. The High Desert Stampede is pleased to offer General Admission at $25, Premier Reserved at $35 and Elite VIP tickets at $100. Local television stations, KTVZ and Fox are sponsoring a $5 presale discount on all General Admission and Premier Reserved tickets making them $20 and $30 respectively until March 24th, 2016 at noon. All children 5 years of age and under shall receive free General Admission.

The Redmond tour stop will be the first of eight stops to host 15 regular-season performances across the U.S. on the organization’s inaugural tour, which will feature 80 of the top rodeo athletes in the world, representing more than 130 world titles.

The High Desert Stampede will host two nights of non-stop rodeo competition in the Bank of the Cascades Center indoor arena at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo including: bull riding, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, tie-down roping, team roping and barrel racing.

ERA was created for the fans – founded and operated by the top 87 pro rodeo athletes from across the globe

A native to Oregon, Steven Peebles, bareback rider and a World Champion in his event, told us, “I am super excited for the first ERA tour stop to be in my hometown of Redmond, and I hope everyone comes out to see us,” Peebles said. “There will be a lot of money on the line at this event, and I feel like any time I get to ride in front of friends and family, it gives me a hometown advantage. So many great people in the area support me and are always cheering for me. It gives me the fire and motivation to ride at the very best of my ability.”

And when Peebles says “a lot of money,” he’s not joking. Each night’s payouts are estimated to exceed $100,000, providing the live audience with a one-of-a-kind high-stakes environment unique to ERA events.

In fact, the regular season will be a “Championship Race to Dallas,” where rodeo athletes will compete for $1.6 million in prize money. And during the five-day World Championship in Dallas, they’ll battle for an additional $3 million, for a total of $4.6 million in payouts.

In addition to the high-stakes excitement, ERA events are family friendly, and they provide fans with a chance to meet and greet world-famous cowboys, including some other well-known Oregon natives: Bobby Mote, a Culver native and four-time World Champion Bareback Rider; Austin Foss, a Bareback Rider from Terrebonne; and Charly Crawford, a Prineville Team Roping Header.

The ERA slate also includes world-renowned cowboys and cowgirls like 23-time World Champion Cowboy, Trevor Brazile; 11-time World Champion Barrel Racer, Charmayne James; four-time World Champion Bareback Rider, Kaycee Field; five-time World Champion Steer Wrestler, Luke Branquinho; three-time World Champion Calf Roper, Tuf Cooper; eight-time World Champion Calf Roper, Fred Whitfield and World Champion Barrel Racer, Fallon Taylor.

All of the rodeo action from Redmond will be nationally televised on Wednesday nights, April 6th and 13th during primetime on FOX Sports 2. With more than 42 hours of programming, the ERA will have the largest household network audience in all of professional rodeo. For the first time in the history of rodeo, fans will be able to follow the entire ERA tour, culminating with the crowning of its eight World Champions.

Friday and Saturday’s rodeo performances in Redmond at the Bank of the Cascades Center will begin at 7:30 p.m., but fans will want to come early to get an autograph during the pre show meet and greet with ERA athletes in the arena. To reserve your seat visit www.highdesertstampede.com for more information. All tickets will be placed on sale Monday, February 1st at 12 p.m. PST. Fans won’t want to miss this event, “Where the Biggest Names in Rodeo Come to Ride.”

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The Elite Rodeo Athletes is a “League of Champions” where only the world’s best rodeo athletes and livestock will compete against each other at every tour stop and rodeo. The tour was created with rodeo fans in mind, so they can easily follow their favorite athletes throughout the tour, which will host a number of regular-season events culminating with a 5 day World Championship event in Dallas, November 9-13, 2016 at the American Airlines Center. Fans will be able to watch only the best athletes and animals compete against each other, either in person or by watching the journey on FOX Sports 2.