US Cowboy History

United States Cowboy initially launched in January 2000 as the United States Cowboy Tour. Its founder, Gordon Whitener, liked to say, “There is a little bit of cowboy in everyone.” Based in Cartersville, Georgia in its infancy, the US Cowboy Tour served as a private rodeo company with its own sanctioning body and finals. Early professionals who contributed to the success of the Tour included industry-familiar names such as Larry Haney, Robin Brooks, Krece Harris, Robbie Hodges, Charlie Lowry, John McIntosh, Dennis Morris, Bubba Oubre, David Sharp, and Ellen Turner. This group further cemented the success of US Cowboy through a unique Racing Rodeo Series partnership with NASCAR tracks. These events were held over racing weekends in Atlanta, Darlington/Florence, Daytona, Kentucky, Talladega, and Texas, giving the US Cowboy Tour exposure to a much larger audience and sponsorship pool. Crew Chief legend and cowboy Jeff Hammond, along with racetrack executives Greg Harvey and Greg Walter, and the ultimate gentleman cowboy promoter, Jim Smith, were instrumental in early efforts to create these exclusive Racing Rodeo events all over the country.

By the year 2002, US Cowboy Tour had captured the attention of the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA) and, to the delight of our cowboy competitors and sanctioned rodeo hosts, became a co-sanctioning body within the IPRA. On the heels of this national exposure, US Cowboy was contacted by Jim Wilburn to partner with Winner Communications (WinnerComm) to produce the PRCA Xtreme Bulls Tour for ESPN. This business agreement delivered over 100 events for network telecasts from 2006 to 2014, with help from industry greats Sam Dunn and David Sharp, assisted by Amos Tiger of the Seminole tribe of Florida.

While hosting Extreme Bulls in some of the most well-known rodeo venues in the country, the US Cowboy team, which by then included Whitener, Sam Dunn, David Sharp, Tim Campbell, Pat Lewis, and Stu Pierson, noticed that in-house video boards were not being utilized to fully promote cowboy sporting events. The idea to partner with Wrangler, a major sponsor and promoter of cowboy athletes and the Western Lifestyle, became a reality in 2014 when the Wrangler Network was developed, launched, and managed by US Cowboy. As the first full-time, live-streaming service to the rodeo industry, US Cowboy presented over 500 events for a national audience for the next eight years. Without the support and contributions from local rodeo committees, announcers, video producers, music directors, and the competitors themselves, none of this success would have been possible.

For the past twenty-five years, US Cowboy has continued to specialize in exclusive rodeo events, Western Lifestyle marketing, sales, and production. Uniquely positioned to service clients in this business niche, the launch of our newest digital platform, uscowboy.com, will allow continued growth in content touchpoints like the website, social media, podcasts, YouTube, and more – all with the goal of highlighting the stories of the cowboys and western culture that we are all tied to – and hold close to our hearts.