I hope that everyone’s summer is going well. Each year, the summers seem to go faster and faster. Ropings across the country are seeing record numbers and more people are picking up a rope and spending their spare time in the arena. What a sport we have . . . there’s nothing like it.

We are seven months away from the second National Team Roping Tour Finals March 6-13, 2016, in Wickenburg, Ariz. Year number one was an experiment to see if a new idea would work—a format with low entry fees and a big payoff. By all measures it did: the National Nine Finale team of Trace Steele and Tamara Mann won $100,000, and this was for an entry of only $100 each. There were a total of 217 teams competing for a payoff of $315,000.

This season we have added a National Eight to the program. I have high expectations for the National Eight. I’ve guaranteed the National Eight Finale to pay $100,000 for fi rst, on top of a prize line full of saddles and buckles, with everyone making the short round guaranteed a check, and a two-steer consolation average, too. I expect the National Eight Finale to be the richest eightpoint roping in the history of the sport. The National Eight Finale will have all the fanfare that a $100,000 payout should—music, lights, great cattle—the works.

Look at some of the top Open ropings in the world. Only a few pay more than $100,000, and most of them have fees that are over $1,000 per man. For $100 a roper at a NTR qualifi er, you get a shot at $100,000 in one of the most desirable destinations for team ropers in the world—Wickenburg. Amateur ropers in the NTR get to rope for the kind of money that pros work their whole careers to win—that’s something we’re very proud of.

But we don’t leave out the men and women who rope for a living. In addition to the National Nine and National Eight formats, we also have lots of exciting formats for all levels of ropers and continue working on new formats that will fi t each level of roper. We have truck ropings, eight-steers, open, pickdraws, #6 ropings and so much more. If you dream it, the NTR can probably produce it—all with great payouts, even cattle and low entry fees.

Inside this issue you will fi nd information about our upcoming ropings, the NTR formats, recent event re-caps and a wonderful article on some friends of mine, Ozzie and Judy Gillum. I hope you enjoy this issue of The Arena. I invite you to check out our website or give us a call if you have any questions. With lots of ropings coming up in the next several months, I look forward to seeing many of you on the road.