FORT WORTH, Texas — The flags above the arena floor are a fixture. The seating is unchanged. Even the dirt has been around years.
This is not the Will Rogers Coliseum’s first rodeo.
But it is the last.
“This is Fenway Park. This is Yankee Stadium. This is Wrigley Field,” said Matt Brockman with the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
The annual Fort Worth tradition dates all the way back to 1896 but the Will Rogers Coliseum has been the centerpiece since 1944. Over the decades, it has become one of the storied arenas in western culture and sport with the likes of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Gene Autry paying visit to the building named after a most iconic cowboy.
Starting in 2020, the coliseum will still host some stock show events but the cowboys will ride away in to the new Dickies Arena as the new home for the rodeo.
“People say, ‘it won’t be the same.’ Well, of course it won’t be the same,” said Bob Tallman, the rodeo announcer since 1977. “But don’t be afraid of change. Be a part of it in a positive manner.”
Though it will not be the same, it sure will try. Brockman said aside from the more than 3000 additional seats, the new home will sport the same dimensions, décor, and atmosphere of the old one.
The 1950s era paintings across the coliseum and even the dirt will be moved to the new location.