Canadian Rodeo Finals pulled from Saskatoon and staying in Edmonton
Rodeo association and Tourism Saskatoon signed memorandum of understanding in July
Despite the success the Saskatchewan Rush saw in the past year, the City of Edmonton isn't ready to relinquish another major sporting event, the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association Finals, to Saskatoon.
The CPRA turned the clock back a few months and rescinded a memorandum of understanding it had with the City of Saskatoon by changing its plan to move the rodeo finals from Edmonton's Northlands to Saskatoon's SaskTel Centre in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
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Both parties signed the memorandum in July after Edmonton, Northlands and the Oilers Entertainment Group made a final offer in March to renew the contract. The bid was rejected, opening the door for proposals from several cities that had expressed interest in hosting the event, including Saskatoon.
The news came as a bit of a shock for Tourism Saskatoon executive director Todd Brandt.
"It's a big disappointment, we got so many calls from people excited about moving a known event into Saskatoon," Brandt said. "It would be a great time for Saskatoon to host here and I thought out of respect for the sub-contractors and the athletes, we felt we could help grow the brand."
"We were very comfortable that we came up with a good business plan and an opportunity to move the rodeo successfully into Saskatoon with a great facility at SaskTel Centre."
Brandt added that shortly after the memorandum was signed, board members who were part of the agreement resigned. The CPRA asked for some time to restructure their executive, but Brandt never expected a full on reversal of the decision to move.
"I've been in this business for 19 years and I've never gotten to the point where the spirit of an MOU, even though it's not a contract, it means you're clear to form a relationship," he said. "We were ramping up activities ready to bring the event from Edmonton to market for this year."
Saskatoon is coming off a weekend hosting a Canadian Professional Bull Riding event at SaskTel Centre.
With files from CBC Edmonton