2009 Wrangler Million Dollar Tour : How It Works

The Wrangler Million Dollar Tour, presented by Justin Boots, showcases the PRCA's top cowboys in a seven-month, nationwide series of rodeos that includes two of the top three prize money rodeos sanctioned by the PRCA, the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days. 

There are two levels of competition in the revised format being used this year, with eight of the 17 participating rodeos designated as Gold rodeos – those with a committee purse of at least $20,000 in each event – and the remainder being designated Silver rodeos, with a committee purse of at least $10,000 in each event.

For the third year in a row, the Tour will culminate with an elimination playoff system that will play out at two elite PRCA events, in Puyallup, Wash. and Omaha, Neb.

Total prize money for the regular season and playoffs is projected to exceed $6 million.

The Wrangler Million Dollar Tour standings will count 15 of each contestant's 17 results in the race to reach the Justin Boots Playoffs system. All eight of the Gold tier events will be counted for everyone, along with seven of nine In the Silver tier – the worst two automatically being dropped.

After a year in which Tour standings were kept using a points system, the PRCA's Wrangler Million Dollar Tour, presented by Justin Boots, will return to standings based on total earnings. The Tour began Feb. 5-7 with the Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo in Rapid City, S.D., and will continue on through 12 states before concluding the regular season with the Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo, Sept. 4-7.

The first Justin Boots Playoffs event, in Puyallup, Wash., Sept. 11-13, will accept the top 24 cowboys (24 team roping pairs) in the regular-season Tour standings. At the conclusion of Puyallup, the top 12 contestants (12 teams) will advance to the Justin Championships in Omaha, Neb., Sept. 24-26 at the Qwest Center.

The championship rodeo will consist of two go-rounds, back to back, with a semifinal round and a final. The top eight contestants after the first two rounds then move on to the semifinals, where all previous scores and times are thrown out. Those competitors with the top four scores or times will move on to the finals, where scores and times again are erased. All of the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour champions are determined by the final round scores and times.

ESPN is scheduled to televise the Justin Boots Championships from Omaha.