Somewhat related to the shooting yesterday, The National Rodeo Finals was scheduled to begin today. For those unfamiliar, the NRF spans 9 days over 2 weekends in December. It has always seemed kind of an odd fit for Las Vegas because these people are not really gamblers. But they do fill hotels rooms for more than a week during a traditionally slow time in early December. Just 2 days ago it was announced the rodeo had extended its relationship with Las Vegas through 2035.
The media says 340,000 come to Las Vegas for Rodeo week. That number seems high to me. If 15,000 people attend events each night that would be 150,000 and I would think much would be the same people over and over. You see minimal rodeo presence on the strip or at strip casinos. You will see much more Rodeo/cowboy type folks at the downtown casinos and Sam's Town, South Point and Silverton.
So most of the Rodeo happens on the campus of UNLV where the shooting occurred yesterday. The first 9 nights events at the Thomas and Mack center on campus and the horses and other animals housed on the intermural fields at UNLV. Because the campus is now closed through Sunday and on lockdown, with classes cancelled, no one is allowed in or out of the campus. How this will affect the rodeo is yet unclear. The first night's events tonight have been cancelled. A decision on the rest of the week is to be announced later this morning.
This obviously doesn't compare to the loss of lives suffered yesterday but is all just another casualty of this shooting on the campus of UNLV.