Do They Have Rodeos in North Carolina? Yes, and the roots of this activity in the ‘Tar Heel State‘ run much deeper than people might expect. There is a rodeo here that has been running for six decades, and the state is also home to a world champion bull rider as well as the reigning champions of the professional bull riding team league.
Yes, rodeo activities take place year-round in North Carolina. These include the state’s oldest rodeo in Marshall (Madison County), professionally sanctioned events in Old Fort and Morganton, the statewide sanctioning body (NCPRA), and high school and youth organizations; most notably, there is the Greensboro-based team ‘Carolina Cowboys,’ which won the 2025 PBR Teams Championship. North Carolina has also produced a world champion in bull riding: Jerome Davis, who was the first PRCA world champion from east of the Mississippi River.
- Rodeo in NC is the real deal – not just a novelty. The Marshall’s Madison County Championship Rodeo runs every other Saturday night during the season and is the longest-running rodeo in the state.
- The Carolina Cowboys are reigning champions. They won the 2025 PBR Teams Championship the first major pro sports title for the Carolinas since 2006. Source: Greensboro Complex
- Their 2026 homestand is imminent: PBR Cowboy Days returns to First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro September 18-20, 2026.
- NC has a genuine rodeo legend. Jerome Davis of Archdale won the PRCA world ‘bull riding’ title in 1995, marking the first time a cowboy from east of the Mississippi River claimed a world championship and he now coaches cowboys. He was honored with the ‘PBR Teams Head Coach of the Year’ award in 2026.
- There’s a full youth pipeline: the NC High School Rodeo Association and NC Youth Rodeo Association feed riders toward the pro ranks.
- One caution: Rodeo Carolina, the high-stakes WCRA event in Tryon, has not run reliably since its 2023 debut – the 2024 edition was halted by Hurricane Helene. Check with the WCRA before making plans around it.
Table of Contents
| 60+ | 1995 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Years of the Marshall Rodeo | Jerome Davis world title | Carolina Cowboys PBR title |
Ask most people where American rodeo thrives, and they will name Texas, Wyoming, or Oklahoma; North Carolina rarely comes to mind. Yet, the state has quietly built a complete rodeo ecosystem east of the Mississippi, featuring grassroots Saturday-night rodeos in the mountains, sanctioned professional events, a youth development pipeline, and a professional bull-riding franchise that has won it all.
North Carolina’s Rich Rodeo Culture
North Carolina’s rodeo scene offers a thrilling blend of Western traditions, professional competition, and family-friendly entertainment that captivates audiences from across the state. Beyond its beautiful Atlantic coastline and famous barbecue, North Carolina hosts a dynamic rodeo circuit that features everything from bull riding championships to community-focused events. The state’s rodeo culture not only preserves the western heritage but also provides competitive opportunities for athletes and engaging entertainment for families.
With numerous rodeo associations, professional teams, and annual events, North Carolina has established itself as a major center for rodeo enthusiasts in the southeastern United States.
Watch Video North Carolina’s Rodeo Culture:
Where to actually see a rodeo in North Carolina
There are recurring events in the area worth planning around. I have categorized each one and flagged those where dates need to be confirmed—small-town rodeos, for instance, change their dates more frequently than major league sports games.
North Carolina rodeo events & recurring competitions
| Event | Location | Type | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison County Championship Rodeo | Marshall, NC | SRA-sanctioned | Longest-running rodeo in NC; kids’ dance contest; 60th annual marked in 2025 |
| PBR Cowboy Days (Carolina Cowboys) | First Horizon Coliseum, Greensboro | PBR Teams | Reigning league champions’ 5th annual homestand |
| Old Fort Pro Rodeo | 189 Catawba River Rd, Old Fort | PBR Teams | July 4th weekend; fireworks tradition |
| Jr’s Great American Rodeo | Morganton, NC | Regional | Bulls, barrels, broncs; mutton bustin’ for kids |
| Day of the Cowboy Rodeo | Lumber Bridge, NC | Regional | Bronc riding, steer wrestling, roping; artisan vendors |
| NCPRA sanctioned rodeos | Statewide | Sanctioned | Feeds the NCPRA Finals; schedule at ncprarodeo.com |
| NCHSRA / NCRA events | Statewide | Youth | High school & youth divisions |
The Headline Act: Carolina Cowboys, 2025 Champions
The biggest rodeo story in North Carolina isn’t a traditional rodeo at all; it’s a bull-riding team. The Carolina Cowboys are the Carolinas’ first professional bull-riding franchise; they compete in the PBR Teams League and are based at the First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro.
In 2025, they won it all. Entering the playoffs as the fifth seed, the Cowboys dominated the competition in Las Vegas to claim the PBR Teams Championship, a victory hailed as the first major professional sports title for the Carolinas since 2006. They finished the regular season with a 19-16 record, a team record for wins following an 18-92-1 performance.
Carolina Cowboys: regular-season wins by year
The build toward a title. The 2026 season is in progress at the time of writing.
2026 figures are a mid-August 2026 snapshot and will change as the season continues. Sources: PBR, Greensboro Sports.
The front office reads like a North Carolina sports crossover: General Manager Austin Dillon (2018 Daytona 500 champion); ownership by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Childress alongside Jeff and Tammy Brun; and Head Coach Jerome Davis with Assistant Coach Robson Palermo. The roster features 2022 PBR World Champion Daylon Swearingen, 2016 champion Cooper Davis, two-time champion Jess Lockwood, and Clay Guiton of Cherryville, North Carolina, who was named the 2025 PBR Championship MVP as a rookie.
If you want to see top-tier bull riding in North Carolina, the ‘PBR Cowboy Days’ event, taking place from September 18 to 20, 2026, is the best opportunity of the year, featuring the defending champions competing on their home turf. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, PBR.com, and the First Horizon Coliseum box office.
Case study: Jerome Davis, the cowboy who put NC on the map
You cannot answer “does North Carolina have rodeo?” honestly without telling this story.
Jerome Davis was born in 1972 and raised on his family’s ranch in Archdale, North Carolina, not exactly bull riding country. He rode his first bull at 11. On his fourth, he made the eight seconds, and that settled it. He won the North Carolina state high school bull riding title in 1990, the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association championship in 1992, and turned pro the same year.
Then came 1995. Davis went into the National Finals Rodeo needing his last bull to beat Terry Don West. He scored 84 on Bad Company’s The Jam, edged West by $3,147, and won the world championship along with the NFR average title on a combined 736 points across nine bulls. It was the first PRCA world championship ever won by a cowboy from east of the Mississippi River. Between 1993 and 1997, he was the only bull rider in PRCA history ranked in the top five every single year.
During the ‘Tuff Hedeman Championship Challenge’ held in Fort Worth on March 14, 1998, Davis was thrown to the ground, landing on his head by a bull named ‘Knock ’em Out, John.’ The fall resulted in a broken vertebra and left him paralyzed from the chest down. At the time, he held the number one spot in the PBR world rankings.
It is the events following this incident that make his story significant. Davis and his wife, Tiffany, transformed their family property into the ‘Davis Rodeo Ranch,’ which has since become a respected name in the bucking bull industry. He is a PBR co-founder, was inducted into the ‘PBR Ring of Honor’ in 1998, and has coached the ‘Carolina Cowboys’ since the league’s inception in 2022; the team won the championship in 2025, and he was named ‘PBR Teams Head Coach of the Year‘ in February 2026. A section of Highway 311 in Archdale has been named the ‘Jerome C. Davis Highway.’
The Associations: How NC Organizes its Rodeo
Three layers keep the sport running in the state.
North Carolina Professional Rodeo Association (NCPRA)
NCPRA sanctions professional rodeos (rodeos) throughout the state and conducts the NCPRA Finals. For the 2026 season, its published requirement is to have 3 first-sanctioned rodeos by the NCPRA and a total of 8 rodeos to qualify for the Finals; In this, second-sanctioned rodeos and jackpots count as half a rodeo. Its schedule page is the most reliable source for information about approved dates.
Southern Rodeo Association (SRA)
The SRA is a regional sanctioning body operating in the Southeast that sanctions events (including rodeos) held in North Carolina. To qualify for its finals, competitors must participate in a minimum number of SRA-sanctioned rodeos.
Youth: NCHSRA and NCRA
The North Carolina High School Rodeo Association and the North Carolina Youth Rodeo Association provide a developmental pathway spanning age groups from the youth level through high school. The events mirror professional competition, bull riding, barrel racing, roping, and steer wrestling, while emphasizing safety and sportsmanship, and can open doors to college rodeo scholarships. Jerome Davis’s own trajectory, State High School Champion in 1990, NIRA Champion in 1992, and eventually earning a PRCA card, is exactly the kind of path this pipeline is designed to create.
Milestones in North Carolina rodeo
How a state nobody associates with cowboys built a championship-level scene.
- 1990Jerome Davis of Archdale wins the North Carolina state high school bull riding title.
- 1995Davis wins the PRCA World Champion bull riding title and the NFR average — the first PRCA world championship for a cowboy from east of the Mississippi.
- 1998Davis is paralyzed in a wreck in Fort Worth while ranked No. 1 in the PBR standings; he later builds Davis Rodeo Ranch in Archdale.
- 2022The Carolina Cowboys join the new PBR Teams league, with Davis as head coach.
- 2023WCRA’s Rodeo Carolina debuts at Tryon International with a $400,000+ purse — the richest rodeo east of the Mississippi.
- 2024Hurricane Helene disrupts western NC; the second Rodeo Carolina does not go ahead as scheduled.
- 2025The Carolina Cowboys win the PBR Teams Championship from the fifth seed — reported as the Carolinas’ first major pro sports title since 2006.
- 2026Davis is named PBR Teams Head Coach of the Year; Cowboy Days returns to Greensboro Sept. 18–20.
Sources: ProRodeo Hall of Fame, NCpedia, PBR, Tryon International.
Something Different: Linemen’s rodeos
North Carolina also hosts a unique type of “rodeo” that has nothing to do with livestock. Lineman rodeos test electrical line workers on skills such as pole climbing, equipment repair, and rescue operations including the “Hurtman rescue” event. The North Carolina Association of Municipal Electric Systems (NCAMES) organizes an annual competition, and Duke Energy linemen from across the Carolinas compete in regional qualifiers for the International Lineman’s Rodeo. If you search for “rodeo” events in North Carolina cities, these competitions may appear alongside Western-style rodeos; it is worth noting the distinction so you do not purchase the wrong tickets.
What To Expect if You Go
The card
Most North Carolina rodeos feature standard events: roughstock (bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding) and timed events (tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing). Smaller mountain rodeos include regional favorites, for instance, the Marshall Rodeo features sheep riding, wild horse riding, steer riding, and a children’s dance contest with a cash prize. Bull riding concludes the evening’s events at almost every venue.
Tickets and cost
Community rodeos are inexpensive often costing as little as $20 per adult, with family pricing and free or low-cost admission for young children. In contrast, the PBR Team Series event in Greensboro is priced like a professional sporting event, with tickets sold via Ticketmaster. Prices vary from year to year, so treat these figures as a range and verify them at the source.
Practical tips
Arrive early to secure parking and seats; outdoor mountain venues get chilly after dark even in summer, so bring an extra layer. Carry cash for vendors at the Junior Rodeo, and check the age limits if your children want to participate in the Mutton Bustin’. For the Marshall Rodeo and other fairground events, expect gravel parking lots and general admission bleacher seating.
Frequently asked questions: Do They Have Rodeos in North Carolina?
What is the biggest rodeo event in North Carolina?
The highest-profile annual event is PBR Cowboy Days, the Carolina Cowboys’ homestand at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, set for September 18-20, 2026. Historically, WCRA’s Rodeo Carolina at Tryon carried the biggest purse ($400,000+) but has not run reliably since 2023.
What is the oldest rodeo in North Carolina?
The ‘Madison County Championship Rodeo’ held in Marshall is considered the state’s longest-running rodeo, and its organizers held the 60th annual Marshall Rodeo in 2025.
Has North Carolina produced a world champion bull rider?
Yes – Jerome Davis of Archdale won the 1995 PRCA World Champion Bull Riding title, marking the first time a cowboy from east of the Mississippi won a PRCA world championship. He was paralyzed in a 1998 wreck and now coaches the Carolina Cowboys.
Are there youth rodeos in North Carolina?
Yes, the North Carolina High School Rodeo Association (NCHSRA) and the North Carolina Youth Rodeo Association (NCRA) organize age-appropriate competitions ranging from young children up to the high school level, and many rodeos include “mutton bustin'” for children.
Did the Carolina Cowboys win a championship?
Yes. They won the 2025 PBR Teams Championship after entering the playoffs as the fifth seed, a victory hailed as the first major professional sports title for the Carolinas since 2006.
Sources & References
- Greensboro Complex: “Reigning PBR Teams World Champion Carolina Cowboys Return to First Horizon Coliseum for 2026 Homestand Sept. 18-20” (Nov 18, 2025). gsocomplex.com. Used for: 2025 title, 2026 homestand dates, ownership, coaching staff.
- PBR: “Jerome Davis of the Carolina Cowboys named head coach of the year” (Feb 18, 2026). pbr.com. Used for: Coach of the Year, 19–16 and 18–9–1 records, fifth-seed title run.
- ProRodeo Hall of Fame: “Davis, Jerome.” prorodeohalloffame.com. Used for: 1995 title, 84 on The Jam, $3,147 margin, 736 average on 9 bulls, first champion east of the Mississippi.
- NCpedia: “Davis, Jerome Carson.” ncpedia.org. Used for: 1998 injury details, Archdale ranch, Jerome C. Davis Highway, top-five ranking 1993–97.
- NC Dept. of Natural & Cultural Resources: “Bull Rider Jerome Davis” (Aug 10, 2016). dncr.nc.gov. Used for: early career, 1990 state title, 1992 NIRA title, Ring of Honor.
- Wikipedia: “Jerome Davis (bull rider).” en.wikipedia.org. Used for: NFR/PBR qualifications, No. 1 standing at time of injury.
- PBR: “2024 Rodeo Carolina announces roster… Oct. 3-5” (Sept 2024). pbr.com. Used for: $400,000 purse, Tryon venue, 222 athletes.
- Tryon International: WCRA Rodeo Carolina news archive. resort.tryon.com. Used for: 2023 inaugural; Hurricane Helene disruption and rescheduling of the 2024 edition.
- NCPRA: Rodeo Schedule. ncprarodeo.com. Used for: 2026 Finals rodeo-count requirement; sanctioned schedule.
- RodeoTicket: “Find North Carolina Rodeos.” rodeoticket.com. Used for: Marshall, Lumber Bridge, Morganton event details.
- Destination McDowell: Old Fort Pro Rodeo. destinationmcdowell.com. Used for: Old Fort July 3–4 dates and venue.
- Our State magazine: Madison County Championship Rodeo. ourstate.com. Used for: longest-running rodeo in North Carolina.
- Greensboro Sports: Carolina Cowboys 2026 standings update (Aug 17, 2026). greensborosports.com. Used for: 2026 mid-season record.