National High School Finals Rodeo competition

The Campbell County Rockpile Museum is hosting the ProRodeo Hall of Fame Takeover, an exhibit from the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The Campbell County Lodging Tax Joint Powers Board and the Campbell County Convention and Visitors Bureau are moving ahead with plans that will implement geofencing technology for this year’s National High School Finals Rodeo in July in Gillette. It comes after some residents spoke out against these plans at two public meetings, voicing concerns about violations of privacy, constitutionality, and the necessity of them.

The Campbell County Joint Powers Lodging Tax Board voted 5-1 at a special meeting on April 26 to move forward with a contract with Zartico, a Utah-based geofencing software company that will track spending habits during this year’s National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR) in July. While some in the community were supportive, other questioned the need, constitutionality, and intent behind these plans.

The Campbell County Convention and Visitors Bureau will roll out geofencing technology to track rodeo participants and visitors. They're doing so to get a better understanding of where money is spent in the community and how it can help benefit the local economy. Other information, such travel routes to and from the event site, is also a focus that local officials and businesses can use in future decision making. But while some are optimistic of what this could mean for the local economy, others are skeptical of these plans.

The NHSFR after its venue in Kansas City was unable to host it in those years. The Cam-plex facilities, which have hosted the NHSFR on and off since 1993, were scheduled to host the National Junior High School Finals Rodeo in those years before it was was relocated to an Oklahoma venue on a long-term contract. The Cam-plex will host the 2023 NHSFR, which marks the rodeo's 75th anniversary.

More competitors, visitors, and even horses, helped to set records this year. The rodeo has rotated through Gillette regularly since the first event was held there in 1993.

The National High School Rodeo Association will require host venues to meet certain requirements for future National High School & Junior High Rodeos beginning in 2030. The Cam-Plex has hosted the National High School Finals Rodeo on a rotating basis for almost 30 years, but will need to meet the new requirements if it wants to remain a host site.