The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo Returns For Its Big Kickoff Weekend With Some Major Changes

The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is preparing for its big kickoff at Dickies Arena this weekend. The annual ritual which brings true cowboys and cowgirls to Cowtown, along with top names in the rodeo world, livestock breeders and dedicated FFA students fluffing, grooming and ultimately auctioning off their prize cattle, goats and pigs.

It’s a spectacle. The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo runs from this Friday, January 13 through February 4.

The Rodeo and Dickies are now partnering with Ariat International. This new partnership makes Ariat the official boot partner of Dickies Arena and the official Western apparel partner of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.

Those are big boots to fill with Fort Worth’s own Justin Boots (which has been around since 1925) having been associated with the Fort Worth Rodeo since 1959. Justin Boots isn’t going anywhere though. It still sponsors the Rodeo’s Justin Mutton Bustin’ event and it remains the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) corporate partner, just like they have been for decades. The iconic Fort Worth brand has been an official sponsor of the PRCA for the past 40 years.

Ariat will now add its own prominent presence at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. The innovative brand and crafter of Western, English and rugged work footwear and apparel was the first company to bring athletic footwear technology to equestrian sports. It forever changed that industry.

Ariat opened its first showroom in Mule Alley a year ago and built the main distribution hub in Fort Worth. It has put down roots here.

“Our partnership with Dickies Arena and the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is a terrific opportunity to further support the Fort Worth community,” Beth Cross, co-founder and CEO of Ariat, says in a statement.

The Fort Worth Rodeo Kickoff

Ranching Heritage Weekend kicks off the Stock Show this weekend, including the Best of the West Ranch Rodeo and some of the extravaganza’s most prestigious horse shows and sales. All of which will now be presented by Ariat.

“This partnership with Ariat is exciting for the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo because of our mutual passions for the Western way of life and the community of people that make it unique and special,” Stock Show president and general manager Brad Barnes says in a statement.

Ariat will also be the presenting sponsor of the Stock Show’s Auditorium Concert Series, which takes place in the historic and intimate setting of the Will Rogers Auditorium. This year’s lineup includes country and Western legend John Michael Montgomery and comedian Brian Reagan.

Finally, the most exclusive premium hospitality space within Dickies Arena is getting a name change. The North Club, formerly called Avion Club, will now be officially sponsored by and renamed the Ariat Club. This is the elegant hospitality space with full bar service and unobstructed views of the arena and all the action during concerts and sporting events. It is accessible only to suite, loge box and founders rodeo box holders.