The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo broke its all-time attendance record this year with more than 2.7 million visitors during the 23-day event at NRG Park.
According to the rodeo, the total attendance across all of its activities was 2,735,695, breaking last year's record of 2.5 million attendees. This past Saturday — the second-to-last day of this year’s rodeo — saw the highest single-day attendance this year with 199,220 visitors. The three-day World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest, which serves as a rodeo kickoff event, saw 226,463 visitors.
More than 1.3 million attended the paid rodeo and concert performances, with Saturday’s Brooks & Dunn show barely beating out Friday’s performance by Parker McCollum, a country music star from Conroe.
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Here are the highest-attended rodeo/concert performances from 2025, according to the rodeo:
- Saturday, March 22, 2025 – Brooks & Dunn – 71,256
- Friday, March 21, 2025 – Parker McCollum – 71,218
- Sunday, March 23, 2025 – Luke Bryan – 71,103
- Friday, March 14, 2025 – Journey – 70,978
- Tuesday, March 11, 2025 – Zach Top – 70,865
- Sunday, March 16, 2025 – Grupo Frontera – 70,775
Junior Market Steer Auction Results
Another Rodeo Houston record was set on Saturday during the Junior Market Steer Auction, with the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion steers each selling for more than $600,000, according to the rodeo.
Jett Hale, a 17-year-old high school junior from Miami, Texas, exhibited his Charolais Cross steer named Mike, which sold for $690,000 and was named the Reserve Grand Champion. The winning bid was placed by the Champagne Cowgirls and The Tutcher Family Foundation.
Hale, who also is a member of the Miami branch of the Future Farmers of America, said countless hours of hard work had gone into preparing Mike for the show.
"I don't think people understand how much time, effort and money people put into these things," Hale said in a statement released by the rodeo. "You got to work with them every day and try to keep them going so people can present them like this."
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Jacob Schickendanz, a 16-year-old from Perryton, exhibited the Grand Champion steer. The black crossbred steer, named Kareem, sold for $675,000, according to the rodeo. The winning bid was placed by Sally Flores, Belinda Flores Young and Chay Flores Taylor, who were donating in memory of Rigo Flores Sr.
Schickendanz, a sophomore member of the Ochiltree County 4-H, said he thought he'd seen the judge eyeing his steer.
"[The judge] looked at [my steer] when the Reserve Grand Champions were walking around," he said. "I thought maybe I had a shot then."
Complete results from this year’s rodeo auctions, including school art, livestock and wine auctions, are on the rodeo website.
Overall, there were 33,142 entries at this year's livestock show, with 22,161 participating in the junior show and 10,981 taking part in the open show. The junior auction sales set a new record, totaling more than $29.6 million, according to the rodeo.
In terms of scholarship awards, the rodeo said it has committed more than $28 million to the youth of Texas.
- $14,718,000 in scholarships to be awarded this summer;
- $9,764,100 to junior show exhibitors;
- $3,095,554 in educational program grants; and
- $481,100 in graduate assistantships
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