The Mesquite ProRodeo is a rodeo located in Mesquite, Texas, United States that operates during rodeo season from April through September each year….as this rodeo was named the Mesquite Championship Rodeo prior to its purchase by Camelot Sports and Entertainment in 2009….which is also addressed as simply the Mesquite Rodeo.
Charlie Columbus McNally founded The original Mesquite Rodeo/….which was a permanent location and did not move town to town….for It was held at the Charlie McNally’s Arena located on Hickory Tree Road….located a little to the north of what is presently known as Rodeo Drive. The original Mesquite Rodeo dates from about 1946….and was located on the northeast corner of Buckner Blvd and Scyene Road….which ironically was closed when the City of Dallas annexed Pleasant Mound in 1950 and refused to issue a special zoning permit to the rodeo…..so, shortly there after Neal Gay, Jim Shoulders (one of the greatest rodeo riders in the world) and their associates purchased C.C. McNally’s property in 1957….where they built a new arena on the south side of the property on the north side of present Rodeo Drive for the 1958 opening of the professional rodeo season….and was soon to be renamed the Mesquite Championship Rodeo. The entrance was still on Hickory Tree Road and passed north of the open arena (the roof was added in 1964) to a parking area on the west side. The brick kilns were just a few hundred feet southeast of the arena. The present arena as seen in this video herewith…..was built in 1986 further south of the 1958 arena which was torn down and that site remains undeveloped…..as all that area had been in the Mesquite City limits since the mid 1950’s expansion during the post war housing boom. By the mid-1980s, rodeo performances at the Mesquite Championship Rodeo began to be broadcast on ESPN….who brought this video below…..and then later on TNN and Fox Sports Net Southwest. On Fox Sports Net Southwest, the rodeo has reached over 8.3 million households….and to date is the most televised rodeo in the world next to the NHSRA 20X Rodeo High telecast on RFD-TV.
In 1985, ground was broken for the Mesquite Arena, a new facility for the Mesquite Rodeo, located near Interstate 635 and Scyene Road….and by 1998, the facility was expanded to include a Convention Center, Exhibition Hall and a Hampton Inn & Suites.
In 1999, Tom Hicks, owner of the MLB Texas Rangers franchise and the NHL Dallas Stars franchise….purchased Mesquite Championship Rodeo….and by 2001, attendance had grown to 200,000 during the season. In 2009, a group of investors formed a company called Camelot Sports & Entertainment and purchased the Mesquite Championship Rodeo from Hicks for an undisclosed sum. Camelot has reportedly invested nearly $1.5 million by adding high definition video boards over the bucking chutes, remodeling and refurbishing many of the suites in Mesquite Arena and adding a private restaurant called the 8 Second Club…. which its members can use throughout the year.
This 1986 Mesquite World Championship Bare Back Riding Competition and Saddle Bronc Riding Championship are certainly worth the watch by any rodeo fan….for this is great stuff folks.
