Contact: AnnMarie Cornejo

805-756-2427; ancornej@calpoly.edu

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Tickets go on sale Wednesday, Feb. 11, at noon for the 84th Annual Poly Royal Rodeo, which is returning to Cal Poly’s largest outdoor venue, the Alex G. Spanos Stadium, more than tripling the spectator capacity.

The three-night general admission events will begin Thursday, April 9, with a special motorcross performance by The Flying Cowboyz and high intensity bullfighting performed by Bullfighters Only. This performance is not a traditional rodeo but will showcase several rodeo events. The Annual Poly Royal Rodeo Performances will begin Friday, April 10, and conclude Saturday, April 11, with the Poly Royal Rodeo Finals. All performances start at 6:30 p.m. Thursday's event will be followed by a professional drone show, and Friday and Saturday will be followed by a concert. On Friday, Bayker Blankenship, a 20-year-old rising country music star from Livingston, Tennessee, will take the stage after the rodeo performance. On Saturday Waylon Wyatt, a 19-year-old country music singer from Hackett, Arkansas, will perform.

Available general admission seating is nearly quadrupling with the move back to Spanos Stadium. Last year more than 3,000 people attended the standing room only four-night rodeo each night held in the Manfred and Jean Sander Arena in the Cotton Rosser Rodeo Complex on campus. Spanos Stadium will accommodate 12,000 rodeo guests each night.

The Poly Royal Rodeo is the marquee event on campus during Cal Poly’s annual Open House. Friday’s event will feature Cal Poly senior and master’s students from Cal Poly Rodeo, and Saturday’s event will feature the top collegiate rodeo athletes from the West Coast Region who have advanced to the championship performance from the weekend’s earlier rounds. Athletes will compete for a championship title in events such as barrel racing, team roping, breakaway roping, tie down roping, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, bull riding and steer wrestling.

Tickets are $50 for general admission. A limited number of VIP tickets will be available to purchase for $150. Admission is free for children under 3. Cal Poly students can purchase tickets to the Thursday performance for $30. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, Feb. 11, at https://ticketscalpoly.evenue.net/events/CPR.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Cal Poly Rodeo Program.

About Cal Poly Rodeo

Cal Poly Rodeo, coached by Ben Londo, is one of the most successful programs in the history of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA). Cal Poly sent six men to the inaugural College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in 1949. Since then, Cal Poly Rodeo’s student-athletes have won more national titles than any other college rodeo program — 45 national titles. Last year, Cal Poly Rodeo sent the largest team ever recorded to the CNFR. The program is open to all Cal Poly students.

About Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences

Cal Poly is a nationally ranked, comprehensive polytechnic university. The university’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences is comprised of expert faculty members who take pride in their ability to transform academically motivated students into innovative professionals ready to solve the complex challenges associated with feeding the world in sustainable ways. Students have access to state-of-the-art laboratories, including ranch land, orchards, vineyards and forests, all of which provide the basis for Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing methodology.