People may be wondering where the ABC Rodeo will host their annual event, when the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum is handed over to Texas Tech this October.
The city made a commitment to hold the 77th annual ABC Rodeo at the coliseum next year, which Tech agreed to uphold, said city councilman Steve Massengale. However, Chris Cook, managing director at Texas Tech’s Office of Communication, said the university plans on demolishing the coliseum shortly after the rodeo, to make space for something new in the Tech community.
“There’s not a set timeline,” said Cook. “We do know that we’re not gonna do anything prior to the 2019 rodeo.”
Ray Short, chairman of the 77th ABC Rodeo, said he is unsure of the future of the rodeo now that they have lost their venue.
“It leaves us out,” said Short. “I mean we don’t have a place to put on the rodeo.”
Some members suggested hosting the rodeo at the Mallet Center in Levelland, according to Short. But he explained he would much rather keep the rodeo in Lubbock because the Mallet Center is much smaller in seating capacity. In the 1950’s, the rodeo was hosted in the Jones Stadium, but Short doesn’t believe that would be a possibility now.
“There’s talks of a venue being built north of town,” he said, “but from my understanding, it’s gonna be 10 to 15 years before that facility is built.”
Not only is the ABC Rodeo the only professional sporting event in Lubbock, but it is also a major donor to the Lubbock Boys and Girls Club, said Short. In the last 76 years, the rodeo has given well over two million dollars to the charity, he added.
“If the coliseum goes away and there’s not a venue to take it’s place, we won’t be able to raise money…We wont’ be able to put on a professional sporting event here in Lubbock,” he said.
While the future of the rodeo is uncertain for now, Lubbock residents can look forward to the 77th ABC Rodeo on April 4th through 6th of 2019.
