First held in 1931 as the Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock Exposition, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, or Houston Rodeo has been the signature event for its host city for over 80 years now. Held over 20 days at Reliant Stadium, the Houston Rodeo features a diverse program of entertainment including musical acts, livestock auctions, pig racing, the World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest, and of course, championship rodeo competition. Last year’s event saw a record attendance of 2,506,238 people, requiring over 28,000 volunteers to organize. They say everything is bigger in Texas, and when it comes to Houston, the country’s fourth most populous city, this three week rodeo festival is no exception. While many of the acts are country, this year’s slate of artists features Usher, Selena Gomez, REO Speedwagon, Maroon 5, and Robin Thicke to diversify things up and provide a little bit of something for everyone. Despite all the hype and anticipation Houston Rodeo tickets demand is slightly lower this year, according to local Houston broker, MyTicketIn. Last year’s rodeo included appearances by Mary J Blige, Demi Lovato, Styx, Pitbull, and BrunoMars , whose positive reviews and massive attendance contributed to him being selected to perform at the Super Bowl.In fact, with an average price of $156, Bruno Mars was the second most expensive Houston Rodeo tickets last year behind George Strait, Martina McBride, and The Randy Rogers Band triple performance that closed out the festivities. This year, it’s more of the same as Maroon 5 and Usher, two distinctively non-country acts, check in as the two most expensive shows with average ticket prices of $183 and $151, respectively. With nobody like George Strait on this year’s slate, the highest priced country music act of the 2014 Houston Rodeo is Blake Shelton at an average price of $156. Tickets for other country music acts like Jason Aldean tickets,Keith Urban, Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan tickets all have average price exceeding the $100 mark. “Regardless of who plays, this is the biggest cultural event in Houston every year,” Said Malcom Robinnson, CEO of MyTicketIn. This year, the combination of Usher, Maroon 5 and Blake Shelton, all judges on NBC’s the Voice, has been a big boon for demand, according to Robinson.
While this is Usher’s first Rodeo, it is Shelton’s second-consecutive year preforming and he is the most expensive country act scheduled, and $10 more expensive than last years performance. Right up there with him in that second tier of ticket prices for both years are some of the most popular names in country right now, including Luke Bryan, Zac Brown Band, both of whom price even higher this year than last. Tim McGraw was another high priced act at last year’s Houston Rodeo, checking in as the 7th most expensive act at an average price of $104. This year, rather than performing at the Houston Rodeo, he chose to play at the San Antonio Rodeo which came to an end about two weeks ago.
Held at the AT&T Center from February 6 to 22, the annual San Antonio Rodeo sends the San Antonio Spurs on a lengthy road trip around the All-Star break to make room for a multiday event similar to the Houston Rodeo. While the San Antonio Rodeo does not have nearly the same scale as the Houston Rodeo, production of the event typically requires over 4,000 volunteers, and attendance reaches well over one million people. Because the San Antonio Rodeo takes place at a substantially smaller venue than the Houston Rodeo, ticket prices are more limited in quantity and reached slightly higher price points this year. Tim McGraw’s February 8 evening show was the 2nd highest priced event at an average of $206, and was the single most expensive to get into with the cheapest tickets selling for $83. The most expensive act of this year’s San Antonio Rodeo was none other than Pitbull, at an average price of $209. Perhaps his heavily country influenced chart topper “Timber” might have something to do with that.