The bareback riding was one of the most exciting events at the 2024 National Finals Rodeo. Entering Round 10, Rocker Steiner, Bradlee Miller, and Dean Thompson were in a virtual dead heat and all had gotten there in very different ways.

Steiner had placed in seven straight rounds, but was out of the Average after a no score in Round 2. Miller had surged from No. 11 up into World Title contention with three Go-Round Wins in his NFR debut. Meanwhile, Thompson had two Go-Round Wins and seven total checks entering Round 10.

On the final Saturday of the Finals, things ultimately tilted toward Thompson. He was 88.5 on his last horse, enough for second in the round. But more crucially, he jumped Cole Franks to win the Average.

In the end, he was about $18,000 clear of Steiner, who was 88 in Round 10 split third. Miller faded with 81.5 on his final horse.

It illustrates just how razor thin the margins can be in Las Vegas, if Thompson was marked a half-point less and Cole Franks and Steiner a half-point more in Round 10, it would’ve been Rocker’s World Title.

Steiner has vowed what happened in 2024 won’t happen again. And he enters the Finals with a big lead and a regular season earnings record in tow.

Among those chasing him? Bradlee Miller and Dean Thompson.

 

1. Rocker Steiner – $303,547.32

Steiner dominated the bareback riding, winning a PRCA-best 15 rodeos, including RodeoHouston, the Greeley Stampede, Spanish Fork Fiesta Days, and the Governor’s Cup. He was also the only bareback rider to average more than 85 points per ride.

This marks his second consecutive year entering the NFR ranked No. 1 and he set an earnings record this season despite getting on the fewest horses of any NFR qualifier.

Last year, Steiner had the best of his three NFRs, bringing in $160,868.

2. Sam Petersen – $221,901.45

The 22-year-old has finished Top 20 each of his first two years in the PRCA and has broken through in a big way to make his first NFR. He finished in the Top 10 in the PRCA in Average Score, Rodeo Wins, 85+ Point Rides, and Total Qualified Rides.

Petersen was hot down the stretch. In September, he finished second in the Average in Pendleton and second in the Governor’s Cup. He brought in nearly $70,000 in the regular season’s final month.

3. Bradlee Miller – $207,474.02

Miller held the No. 1 spot into the Summer before an injury and responded well to end the season by making the Finals in Pendleton and Ellensburg and the Semifinals of the Governor’s Cup. His 14 wins on the year ranks second behind Rocker Steiner and he was one of four bareback riders to average more than 84 points.

Early on in the season, Miller notched key wins in San Antonio and the San Angelo Cinch Chute Out during the Texas Swing. He also won the Chase Hawks on Dec. 21.

In his NFR debut a season ago, Miller went from outside the Top 10 into World Title contention by placing in three rounds.

4. Jess Pope – $203,629.04

Pope has finished in the Top 5 every year since 2020 and won a World Title and two Reserve World Titles along the way. He was second in the PRCA in Average Score and the only one with at least 50 rides of 85 or more points. With three NFR Average titles, he’s always dangerous in Las Vegas.

In 2025, he will enter the NFR in the Top 5 once again thanks to 12 victories including Ellensburg, Prescott, Belle Fourche, Guymon, and Darby.

From July 4-August. 30, Pope won a check on 25 straight horses during the Summer Run.

Pope ranked second in the PRCA in Average Score at 84.99 points, trailing only Rocker Steiner.

5. Cole Franks – $200,362.07

Franks ranked second in the PRCA in 85+ Point Rides and third in Average Score during the regular season. In the 30 NFR Go-Rounds in his career, he has placed in 21 of them. He has also finished second in the Average in all three of his trips to the Finals.

He finished the 2025 season as one of the hottest bareback riders in the World, winning Ellensburg, Omaha, and Albuquerque and taking second in the Governor’s Cup in September.

6. Kade Sonnier – $171,507.03

Sonnier used a fantastic Summer Run to make his second career NFR. He won over $140,000 from Reno on to move up from No. 29 to No. 6 heading into Las Vegas.

The only other time Sonnier made the NFR in his career, he finished No. 3 in the World in 2023. He won $111,942 and placed in seven rounds that year.

His 13 wins in 2025 put him behind only Rocker Steiner and Bradlee Miller.

7. Garett Shadbolt – $168,261.06

In his fourth career NFR, Shadbolt has a chance for his second career Top 10 after his winningest regular season in ProRodeo.

He ranked fifth in the PRCA in Average Score and third in both 85+ Point Rides and 87.5+ Point Rides in the regular season. It is the second straight season he has ranked in the Top 5 in the PRCA in Average Score.

His biggest win of the season was in Reno and he consistently notched round wins in the toughest rodeo in the sport – Calgary, Denver, Puyallup, and Darby among others.

8. Dean Thompson – $166,535.63

The reigning World Champion is making his third straight trip to the NFR coming off of a year in which he made $412,121 total and won the NFR Average.

Thompson has been on a lot of horses this year as his 111 qualified rides top the PRCA. He also ranks tied for third with 42 rides of 85 Points or More.

9. Jacek Frost – $143,543

Frost had an incredible surge at the end of the regular season to make his first career NFR. With three weeks left in the regular season, he was No. 23 in the World before he won Pendleton and Puyallup, the latter of which he did so with a 91.5-point ride. Prior to this season, he had finished Top 25 in each of his first two ProRodeo seasons.

10. Cooper Cooke – $142,593.79

Powered by his victory at The Calgary Stampede, the 23-year-old has made it two straight NFRs, entering at No. 10 this season after finishing the regular season ninth a year ago.

Cooke’s victory in Calgary, which he accomplished with a 94-point ride in the Finals, came right before a stretch at the end of July where he made at least $1,000 on seven straight horses. He also had a run in April where he made at least $4,000 at three different rodeos in a week’s time.

Cooke needs just $34,000 in Las Vegas to set a new career-high in earnings.

11. Jayco Roper – $139,774.86

Roper is also making his second NFR appearance and will have some momentum coming in to the Thomas & Mack. He made the Finals in Ellensburg, Pendleton, and the Governor’s Cup to close the regular season and brought in $18,700 across those three events.

Roper boasted nine wins on the season and five of them came at PRCA Playoff Series Rodeos. He was the champion in Dodge City, Salinas, Mandan, Red Bluff, and Tucson.

12. Waylon Bourgeois – $137,863.80

After three straight Top 30 finishes, each one better than the last, Bourgeois has made his first National Finals. He ranked Top 10 in the PRCA in Qualified Rides, Average Score, 85+ Point Rides, 87.5+ Point Rides, and Wins.

Bourgeois was dominant in the Southeast from the jump in 2025. He won the Circuit Finals on Nov. 10 and then proceeded to add two wins each in Georgia, Florida and Louisiana.

He finished the 2025 regular season with a check of least $1,000 on his last four horses.

13. Wacey Schalla – $136,108.92

Schalla was still on the outside of the NFR field at the beginning of September, but jumped three spots with a win at the Roughrider Cup and a second place finish in Puyallup.

Schalla only got on 19 bareback horses prior to June 1 and he notched six wins after that point, all of them in PRCA Playoff Series events. His highest paying of those was $18,000 for a 90-point ride in Salt Lake City.

This year marks his first bareback riding trip to the NFR, but he is making his second appearance in the bull riding and is in the mix for the All-Around World Title.

14. Mason Clements – $131,131

Clements has finished No. 16 or 17 three times since 2019, but found himself on the right side of the bubble in 2025.

Clements shined during the Texas Swing in 2025, making the Finals in Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, and Austin. In both Fort Worth and Austin, he finished second.

He won nearly $11,000 over the final five days of the season to secure his fifth trip to the NFR. The last time we saw him in Vegas was 2023 and that season, he finished with a career best $224,653 at No. 8 in the final World Standings.

15. Tilden Hooper – $129,950.66

After a neck injury kept him out for all of 2023 and part of 2024, Hooper has returned to top form and will be on his way to his 10th NFR. He was No. 21 with just 11 days remaining in the regular season, but won the Roughrider Cup and $9,956 at the Governor’s Cup to lock in his spot.

He also boasts a five rides of 90+ Points which ties him for first with World No. 1 Rocker Steiner. We should have known Hooper was in for a terrific 2025 when he started his rodeo season with rides of 92.5, 85.5, 90 and 90 points.

 

Cole Franks has finished second in the Average in all three of his NFR appearances and has never been worse than 852 points on 10.

Because he received a no score in Round 2, Rocker Steiner did not place in the Average in 2024. However, his Average Score was higher than everyone else’s. On the nine horses he did ride, he was 86.7 points on average.

The average round winning score in 2024 was 88.85, while the average score to get a check was 85.25.

Each of the last three World Champions – Dean Thompson, Keenan Hayes, and Jess Pope – have won the Average.

There are zero cowboys in the Top 13 older than 30.

 

QUALIFIED RIDES

1. Dean Thompson – 111
2. Jacek Frost – 111
3. Kade Sonnier – 98
4. Sam Petersen – 88
5. Waylon Bourgeois – 88
6. Bradlee Miller – 84
7. Jayco Roper – 84
8. Mason Clements – 83
9. Cole Franks – 81
10. Garrett Shadbolt – 81
11. Cooper Cooke – 79
12. Jess Pope – 75
13. Tilden Hooper – 74
14. Rocker Steiner – 65
15. Wacey Schalla – 65

AVERAGE SCORE

1. Rocker Steiner – 85.09
2. Jess Pope – 84.99
3. Cole Franks – 84.66
4. Bradlee Miller – 84.28
5. Garrett Shadbolt – 83.75
6. Jayco Roper – 83.45
7. Sam Petersen – 83.43
8. Waylon Bourgeois – 83.38
9. Tilden Hooper – 83.34
10. Wacey Schalla – 83.27
11. Dean Thompson – 83.04
12. Kade Sonnier – 82.73
13. Mason Clements – 82.42
14. Cooper Cooke – 82.02
15. Jacek Frost – 81.67

85+ POINT RIDES

1. Jess Pope – 50
2. Cole Franks – 48
3. Garrett Shadbolt – 42
4. Dean Thompson – 42
5. Rocker Steiner – 41
6. Sam Petersen – 40
7. Bradlee Miller – 40
8. Kade Sonnier – 38
9. Waylon Bourgeois – 37
10. Jayco Roper – 33
11. Mason Clements – 31
12. Tilden Hooper – 31
13. Jacek Frost – 28
14. Cooper Cooke – 27
15. Wacey Schalla – 24

87.5+ POINT RIDES

1. Rocker Steiner – 23
2. Bradlee Miller – 19
3. Garrett Shadbolt – 18
4. Cole Franks – 17
5. Sam Petersen – 15
6. Jess Pope – 13
7. Kade Sonnier – 12
8. Jacek Frost – 11
9. Cooper Cooke – 10
10. Waylon Bourgeois – 10
11. Wacey Schalla – 10
12. Dean Thompson – 9
13. Tilden Hooper – 9
14. Jayco Roper – 8
15. Mason Clements – 5

90+ POINT RIDES

1. Rocker Steiner – 5
2. Tilden Hooper – 5
3. Jess Pope – 4
4. Cooper Cooke – 4
5. Wacey Schalla – 4
6. Cole Franks – 3
7. Sam Petersen – 2
8. Bradlee Miller – 2
9. Garrett Shadbolt – 2
10. Jayco Roper – 2
11. Mason Clements – 2
12. Dean Thompson – 1
13. Jacek Frost – 1
14. Waylon Bourgeois – 1
15. Kade Sonnier – 0

RODEO WINS

1. Rocker Steiner – 15
2. Bradlee Miller – 14
3. Kade Sonnier – 13
4. Jess Pope – 12
5. Sam Petersen – 11
6. Jayco Roper – 9
7. Waylon Bourgeois – 9
8. Jacek Frost – 8
9. Cole Franks – 7
10. Dean Thompson – 7
11. Tilden Hooper – 7
12. Wacey Schalla – 7
13. Garrett Shadbolt – 6
14. Cooper Cooke – 5
15. Mason Clements – 5

 

The bareback riding race at the 2025 National Finals Rodeo runs through the clear favorite, Rocker Steiner. The three-time NFR qualifier made $303,457 in 2025, but Vegas has a way of humbling even the best. His $82,000 lead could vanish fast with the NFR’s massive payouts and unpredictable scoring swings.

This breakdown dives into the real storylines: why 87.5 points is the magic mark for cashing big checks, how Steiner’s past NFR struggles could open the door, and which challengers, Sam Peterson, Bradlee Miller, Jess Pope, and Cole Franks, have the stats to make a run at a Gold Buckle themselves.

The video also spotlights dark horses like Dean Thompson and Kade Sonnier, plus all-around wild card Wacey Schalla, whose multi-event talent could shift both the bareback and all-around races.

With scoring climbing each round and pressure peaking in the final few nights, every ride matters. The Gold Buckle will come down to consistency, not flash, and this preview breaks down exactly what it’ll take to dethrone Rocker Steiner.

 

In this Fantasy Rodeo bareback riding preview, sponsored by Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, we break down what is the most unpredictable and competitive event roughstock event at the NFR, and exactly how to attack it for fantasy success.

Unlike other events, nearly all 15 qualifiers are real  threats to win the Go-Round every night, which makes roster construction critical under the $600,000 cap.

To stay competitive, your full fantasy roster needs to generate $1.5–$2 million at the NFR, and your first pick in the bareback riding will dictate everything that follows. We recommend building your team in tiers: three athletes from the top group, three from the middle, and two value plays from the bottom across all seven events.

In bareback riding,  Jess Pope, Rocker Steiner, Bradlee Miller, Cole Franks and Dean Thompson stand out as the best overall picks.

Meanwhile, some high-risk, high-reward names like Sam Peterson, Wacey Schalla, and Jacek Frost could be the difference-makers if they get hot.