FORT WORTH, Texas – This May, the Women’s Rodeo World Championship (WRWC) will return to Fort Worth, Texas, for the fourth consecutive season, part of the Women’s Rodeo World Championship Week held during the 2023 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Finals. The Women’s Rodeo World Championship, the world’s richest women’s only rodeo, will take over the iconic Cowtown Coliseum May 18-20, as the world’s preeminent women’s rodeo athletes duke it out for the title of 2023 Women’s Rodeo World Champion.
For three nights only, the world’s best women in rodeo competing in four disciplines will battle it out in one of the most exciting female-only live sporting events to witness, going head-to-head in team roping, breakaway roping, and barrel racing. A collective $750,000 will be on the line, with $182,500 being paid out in each discipline and each event champion leaving the Cowtown Coliseum with a minimum of $60,000.
The event will be the second of four Major rodeos comprising the 2023 WCRA (World Champions Rodeo Alliance) Triple Crown of Rodeo. Should the victor in any discipline at the Women’s Rodeo World Championship also take the top spot on the podium at the subsequent two WCRA Majors, the athlete will be eligible to win an additional $1 million bonus.
In 2022, Texas Native Hope Thompson (Abilene, Texas)captured her second consecutive Women’s Rodeo World Championship, making the 37-year-old the richest female athlete in the WCRA. Thompson claimed the 2022 WRWC All-Around Buckle to earn a $20,000 bonus on top of a $5,000 Heeler Challenger World Champion bonus. In 2020, Thompson logged the only qualified time in team roping with Rylie Smith (Whitsett, Texas) at the heels, to take home nearly $100,000. Combined, Thompson has earned more than $240,000 in WCRA competition.
Last year, Thompson was joined in the winner’s circle by Breakaway Roping Event Champion Martha Angelone (Stephenville, Texas)along withTeam Roping Champions Megan Gunter (McCammon, Idaho) and Kylie Mclean (San Tan Valley, Arizona). Hailey Kinsel (Cotulla, Texas) was crowned the 2022 Women’s Rodeo Barrel Racing Event Champion. After making her WRWC debut as the No. 11-ranked barrel racer on the WRWC leaderboard, her jaw-dropping 13.384 push through the Cowtown Coliseum course propelled her to the top of the 2022 battle.
The complete schedule for the 2023 Women’s Rodeo World Championship is:
DATE
TIME (CT)
PERFORMANCE
Who
May 18
Noon
WRWC Round One*
All Disciplines
May 18
7:30 p.m.
Top 10 compete in WRC Round One
All Disciplines
May 19
10 a.m.
WRWC Round Two*
All Disciplines
May 19
7:30 p.m.
Semi-Finals Round
Breakaway Roping and Team Roping
May 20
1 p.m.
Showdown and TCR Round
All Disciplines
* NON-TICKETED PERFORMANCE
Tickets are on sale now and start at $20. They can be purchased at the Cowtown Coliseum Box Office or online at cowtowncoliseum.com.
The 2023 event is part of the inaugural Women’s Rodeo World Championship Week, the richest women’s-only week of competition in Western sports. The week-long schedule of events is slated to pay out $1.145 million in prize money, affording more than 800 women’s competitors the chance to compete for life-changing payouts. The Women’s Rodeo World Championship Week will feature three marquee events, including the 2023 Women’s Rodeo World Championship along with a NBHA (National Barrel Horse) one-day event and The Cowgirl Gathering.
Since launching in May of 2020, the WRWC has awarded more than $2.25 million in new money to women’s rodeo athletes. For more information about the WRWC visit wrwc.rodeo.
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ABOUT WRWC
The WRWC is the largest annual purse for a women’s rodeo event and will payout more than $750,000 in 2023 while crowning World Champions in the Women’s Rodeo disciplines; Team Roping, Breakaway Roping and Barrel Racing. An all-around champion will also be crowned. WRWC is a culmination of a year-long race of women’s rodeo events worldwide. Athletes qualify for the WRWC by earning points and leaderboard positions using the VRQ (Virtual Rodeo Qualifier). The 2023 championship event will take place at the historic Cowtown Coliseum May 18-20.
