Fort Worth Stock Show And Rodeo Hoping Weather Brings Up Attendance Numbers

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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW) - Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo vendors and organizers say they're confident a good forecast will help lift attendance numbers which so far have lagged slightly behind last year.

"Weather drives the stock show, it sure does," said Derek Whisenand of Whiz-Q Stone, an outdoor vendor selling stone and rock products for landscapes.

Whisenand needs to have good weather for people to stop and look at his stone products. Looking around Will Rogers Memorial Center Wednesday you could see cowboys in short sleeves in late January. This is the kind of weather that lets outdoor vendors reign in customers.

"Last year it was a lot of cold, a lot of wind," Whisenand said. "This year we haven't had quite the cold wind. It's been windy. But it hasn't been quite as cold. But all in all it's a much better year than last year.

"We're pedaling rocks better than last year."

The stock show says other merchants, indoors and outdoors, report strong sales too.

But as good as the weather has been, attendance is still lagging behind last year by about two percent.

Stock show organizers aren't worried though.

They still have big rodeo nights ahead, including appearances from Cord McCoy who starred three times in CBS's Amazing Race. And, they still have a forecast that's shining in the stock show's favor.

"We can make up 2%," said Matt Brockman, spokesman for the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. "You give me 60 or 75 degrees and we can make 2% up real fast. You know we are on par to exceed a million again this year. And it's the weather that really impacts us."

The show runs through February 4th.

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