ABAC's Pro Rodeo Is Back for a Second Year. Here's How Rodeo Weekend Lines Up.

"This is sacred ground to me," ABAC Police Officer Joey Woods said, looking down at the ABAC Rodeo Arena in a 2025 rodeo history feature from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. "This is where I rode." He still carries his old rodeo card.

The arena sits on the west end of campus. According to ABAC, it has been there longer than any of the college's other athletic facilities except the gymnasium. Over the decades, this arena has hosted a student club rodeo, an intercollegiate rodeo, a homecoming revival, a bulls-and-broncs night and, starting last November, a fall professional rodeo. This weekend is the first time that fall pro rodeo comes back for a second year, with the same producer and the same sanctioning body. That return is what makes this year different.

An Arena That Kept Changing Its Show

ABAC's own account of its rodeo history shows a tradition that kept going quiet and then coming back in a new form:

1. 1968: A small group of students and Dr. George Conger start the ABAC Rodeo Club.
2. 1969: ABAC hosts its first rodeo on campus.
3. 1990: A new 10-stall stable goes up for students who bring their own horses to campus.
4. 1992: Under advisor Bruce Applewhite, ABAC joins the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association's Ozark Region.
5. 1994: ABAC hosts the Peach State Stampede, which the college calls Georgia's first intercollegiate rodeo. It becomes a homecoming tradition.
6. 2011: The arena had gone quiet, and the Gee Haw, Whoa Back Rodeo revives it.
7. October 2024: ABAC holds its second annual Bulls and Broncs Rodeo with Southern Rodeo Company.
8. Spring 2025: The Gee Haw Whoa Back Rodeo is held at the arena as part of ABAC Homecoming.
9. November 2025: 3R Rodeo Company presents the ABAC PCA Pro Rodeo, held over two nights.

In the early 1980s, Woods told ABAC, "We were the only ones around. ABAC was unique; nobody else in Georgia was doing what we were doing." Those crowds came for bull riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, team roping, bareback riding and saddle bronc riding.

Why the Second Year Is the Real News

A first-year event can be a one-off. When a college books the same producer for a second November, the event starts to look like part of the calendar. ABAC's August announcement put it that way.

"Last year's rodeo was an incredible success, and we knew then that we had something special," said ABAC President Dr. Tracy Brundage. "We are excited to bring the PCA Pro Rodeo back to ABAC and build on that momentum."

That quote comes from ABAC's ticket launch release. The weekend is presented by ABAC Events, part of the college's Finance and Operations division. Vice President Deidra Jackson said a PCA-sanctioned rodeo gives students and the community "an opportunity to experience a professional-level event right here on our campus" while showcasing the college's facilities and its agricultural and western roots.

The organizations behind the rodeo are the same as last year. 3R Rodeo Company of Jemison, Alabama, produces it. Gene Ray and his son Jimmy Dale Ray started the company, and Dale Ray and his wife Renate have carried it on. The sanctioning body is the Professional Cowboy Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that calls itself the largest rodeo association east of the Mississippi River.

Three Nights, Two Campuses

ABAC calls the weekend Stage Lights and Rodeo Nights. It runs across two different venues, so check which campus you're headed to before you leave the house.

Tonight at John Hunt Auditorium

The weekend opens tonight with Tracy Lawrence, an ABAC-presented show held across town on the UGA Tifton campus. ABAC's event page says Lawrence's career spans more than three decades, with 18 No. 1 singles and 13 million albums sold.

Freshtix lists reserved seats starting at $45 plus taxes and fees. Groups of 10 or more who buy together get 25% off, which could be worth it for a church group, office or extended family. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Friday and Saturday at the Rodeo Arena

Both rodeo nights follow the same schedule. Gates open at 5 p.m., mutton bustin' starts at 6 p.m. and the pro rodeo begins at 7:30 p.m. Mutton bustin' costs an extra fee to enter. Last year the rodeo started at 7 p.m., so plan for the later start if you went in 2025.

ABAC's announcement names bull riding and calf roping, along with "other classic rodeo events."

General admission starts at $20, and children under 6 get in free. The VIP experience costs $30 for adults and $10 for children under 6. VIP quantities are limited. Tickets are sold through ABAC's rodeo page.

ABAC Dining and Catering runs concessions, and the Stallion Shop sells ABAC and rodeo apparel at the arena.

The Act Between the Events

Last year's specialty entertainment was the Rawhide and Dusty Show. This year it's Western Way Entertainment, a husband-and-wife duo from East Tennessee. Shelby and Chance Danison are both singer-songwriters and professional rodeo performers. The Tifton Gazette reported that they met more than seven years ago while performing in a Wild West show. They're a PRCA Specialty Act, the IPRA named them one of its Top 5 Specialty Acts in 2025, and they were the specialty act at the 2024 PCA Finals.

• Shelby Danison grew up in Marshfield, Missouri, and started her rodeo career at 8 by singing the National Anthem on horseback. She has trick-ridden professionally for more than nine years on her horse, Daisy. She has performed at both the Missouri and Tennessee locations of Dolly Parton's Stampede, and she played Annie Oakley in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show at Disneyland Paris.
• Chance Danison is a third-generation calf roper from Columbus, Ohio, and also records country music in Nashville. His song "Party Like Wade Sundell" has passed 250,000 streams. In Tifton he'll do trick roping and mounted shooting on his 6-year-old horse, Jose Cuervo.

Dr. Brundage told the Gazette the goal is for the rodeo "to be more than a great competition; we want it to be an experience for the entire family."

Before You Head Out

• Two venues. Tonight's concert is on the UGA Tifton campus, and the rodeo is at the ABAC Rodeo Arena on the west end of ABAC's campus.
• Kids. Mutton bustin' starts an hour and a half before the main rodeo, at 6 p.m. Children under 6 get in free with general admission.
• VIP seats are limited, so buy them through ABAC's rodeo page early if you want them.
• Questions about the weekend go to ABAC Events at [email protected].

If seeing ABAC's rodeo back for another November has you thinking about how Tifton is growing and what your own place here is worth, Terri Roberts Branch is happy to talk it over. Request a free home valuation whenever you're ready.