I understand that the PRCA and CRCA have worked out a deal so that the Canadian rodeos can still be PRCA approved..... 
Dec. 11, 2005
Ellerman steers PRCA out of red
Commissioner turns 'complete disaster' around
By JEFF WOLF
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Troy Ellerman can enjoy today's closing round of the 47th annual National Finals Rodeo more than he did last year's final day of the world's richest rodeo.
When this afternoon's 10th and final go-round wraps up the $5.25 million rodeo in the Thomas & Mack Center, the commissioner of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association at least doesn't have to worry about whether or not the group will be able to pay bills and fulfill its contractual obligations.
Advertisement
What started as a tumultuous year, is ending on a high note though there is some discontent among major sponsors.
But the bottom line is that bottles of red ink will not be necessary when the PRCA begins preparing year-end reports.
Ellerman said last year ended with the PRCA about $3.6 million in debt. As of Sept. 4, the 7,500-member, not-for-profit organization will be at least $500,000 to the good and that doesn't count revenue from this year's National Finals Rodeo. This bit of financial good news comes on the heels of a year which saw the PRCA fire its auditors.
"I served on the (PRCA) board and they told us we had $4 million in the bank in August (2004). There was a lot of deceit. We fired our auditors who told us we had that $4 million in the bank," said the 42-year-old Ellerman.
He said before this year there "never was any budget in place, never any long-term planning, never any long-term projections, no accountability in every department. No department ever had a budget."
"It was a mess. A complete disaster," said Ellerman, a defense attorney in Sacramento, Calif., and former rodeo trick rider and bull-riding contestant.
The turnaround began with firings and staff cutbacks at PRCA headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the shocking, temporary closing of its ProRodeo Hall of Fame early in the year.
"We had to get the doors shut so we could figure out what was wrong, and that's what we did in April," he said. "It was the right thing to do, and I'd do it again.
"There are decisions that are unpopular. You can't put your finger in the air and see which way the wind is blowing."
The hall reopened in July, but the closing also alerted everyone involved with the PRCA that the new sheriff in town meant business -- fiscally sound business.
In the past two weeks, three Ellerman-led initiatives have come to fruition, including:
n Signing a new NFR contract with Las Vegas Events that will run through 2014 and begins this year paying the PRCA $2 million annually instead of $400,000.
n Selling licensing rights to the PRCA's ProRodeo Tour to a group headed by Jack Sperling, part owner of the Minnesota Wild of the NHL. Instead of losing $1.5 million like it did in 2004, the PRCA will be paid $500,000 annually.
n Selling licensing rights of the PRCA's Extreme Bulls Tour to Winnercomm, a sports television production and marketing company that produces the NFR for ESPN. Instead of losing $1.1 million like it did in 2004, Winnercomm will pay the PRCA $500,000 annually.
Joe Beaver, an eight-time PRCA world champion, holds the career record for money won in a career at $2.6 million. He's seen some changes this year but hopes for more including more money offered to contestants.
"I'm not going to say everything is great but there is a lot of changing going on and a lot of changing still needs to be done," said Beaver, 40.
"(Ellerman) can't build a castle in a week, but he's been trying to remodel it. I think he's trying to improve it and I hope he keeps the contestants in mind."
Ellerman also needs to focus on sponsor relations, according to a longtime rodeo marketer who did not want to be named. One major, multiyear PRCA sponsor who is involved with the NFR said the company probably will leave the PRCA and become involved with sponsoring the ProRodeo Tour.
For Ellerman this isn't the first time he's been in a high-profile position.
Before replacing Steve Hatchell to become the PRCA's third commissioner, he was a defense attorney for a key executive with Bay Area Laboratory (BALCO) in the steroids and athletes case.
"I'm working in what I love. I can't say that about (practicing) law," he said.
"It's been challenging. There's never a dull moment," he said. "Trial attorneys are constantly under fire and that's what I did for a living. It's no different here. You have to have a thick skin.
"I'm passionate about rodeo. Who wouldn't want to work in rodeo?"
