Mesquite Arena

We took our in laws to the rodeo when they were in town from Florida. I had never been either so I was skeptical.
I was pleasantly surprised. The show was very entertaining. At the beginning it was a little slow going from one event to the next, but thankfully as the show went on it got better and better. From a We had a great time. I highly recommend to take the family.
I will say that compared to the Houston Rodeo this was amateur hour. But it was very entertaining.

What an amazing establishment!!! This is a great place to come with the entire family for a good time.
A country boy at heart. This is the site for championship rodeo. Texas grown 2000lb beasts looking to destroy anything in their paths for the last 50yrs.
The barrel racing, calf roping, watching the kids ride the sheep. The historical aspect added to the excitement of each event throughout the season. There’s a certain amount of electricity in the crowd that’s southing to the soul.
The addition of CIF championship indoor football coming in 2016 and the Mesquite Marshals gives me the esteemed pleasure of meeting greeting representing and adopting the good people of Mesquite, Texas.
Championship Rodeo, various events, and Championship Indoor football. Colossal. I’m glad to be a part of it

I am sorry to even post this review. Our Saturday night was perhaps one of the dullest nights even for the family. You will be met at the gate where you pay a $ 10.00 parking fee to enter. The rodeo is not much to see. Some of the riders could not even rope a calf and the person that was supposed to the the announcer and comedian seldom drew ever a whimper of a laugh from the very small crowd. While the facility is nice for a country rodeo, the entertainment is no where close to the cost of $ 30 for a ticket. Say home and what some free TV for the evening and you will way ahead. Save your money and head for a real rodeo like Cheyenne. Food is also a sore spot. A small hotdog is $ 4.00 and the hot dog had been sitting for quite some time and had turned dark inside. The bun had been put in a steamer and was absolutely soaking with moisture. Either eat first or eat afterwards but not at the arena. There are a few high dollars gift shop stands — save you money. I can’t imagine being a pair of boots at the gift shop stands.

My Nephew was in town, and he is a big rodeo fan. He was afraid that this was going to be sorta of a hokey rodeo, as they are not really the professionals. but we still had a great time. They have kids riding sheep, some teenagers bull riding, some girls doing barrels racing. They had a guy doing some great rope tricks (which my nephew loved) They even have some cowboys riding bucking broncs and bull riding. If you buy four tickets or more you can get them for half price too!

What a super fun place to take out-​of-​town guests! We went to the rodeo on a Saturday night and had a great time. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was very impressed.
The evening not only included bull riding, cattle roping, and barrel racing, but it also included some comedy, a salute to the troops, and fun activities for the kiddos.
I wouldn’t recommend spending the extra money for the VIP seats because they really aren’t that much better than the regular seats.
And, definitely take a jacket because it’s cold inside, especially when it’s hot outside.

Great place to bring your kids for a wholesome evening of entertainment.
Full disclosure:
My daughter has been riding horses for 10 years and competing for 6, so she was able to appreciate what we saw a lot more than I was. Having said that, we both had a great time watching the young men riding and roping and the young ladies doing the barrels (always my favorite, as I am always amazed at how fast they can maneuver).
There is an optional BBQ meal available or stands with beer, burgers, sodas, snacks.
Tip: before the show begins, go have a look at the stock that will compete.
Good value, good time. :)

went to the rodeo and was pleased. plenty of parking and easy to find. the food was really good. the rodeo was exciting and entertaining. will be back.

Great time my daughter and nephews had at the Rodeo … it brought memories to me when i was a kid and my dad used to take me to the rodeo in California

I had a blast at the Mesquite Arena rodeo. I went on a Friday night and the stadium was maybe only ¼ full, so even though I had purchased the cheap tickets, it was no problem for me to walk down and find a better view. The cowboys don’t have the highest skill level — the last five or 6 bull riders failed to stay on for the required 8 seconds — but it’s a fun, family-​friend, positive environment. The concession food wasn’t particularly good, but it wasn’t terrible expensive either, as far as concession food usually goes. The emcee for the event also did a good job providing wholesome jokes and useful commentary for rodeo newbies like myself as well.

We all had a great time really. Fun for the family.

I bought a deal online for reserved seats, so decided to check out the Mesquite Rodeo. I had been to the Ft. Worth Rodeo and heard that Mesquite was better. It is a fun way to spend a Friday or Saturday night… entertaining, for sure! I wouldn’t rush back, but would recommend everyone check it out at least once!

I was in Rome (Dallas, TX) and did as the Romans do (Rodeo). This was interesting. I liked the show of it. I despised the treatment of the animals.
I just learned that «bucking» animals buck because their balls are tied in a sling.
Honestly I did not know this. It’s wrong. I like free balls and free animals.

What a fun family event. We had a blast from a grandmother (pushing 90) all the way to the teen. It was a blast. Yes, a little over priced and I’m a little sad how short the season is now, but we had fun. Handicapped parking is a pain so if you want those spots you need to arrive early.

My FIRST Rodeo!!!
Ahh, and I loved it. During the intermission my cousin and I looked up some of the cowboys on facebook to see their relationship status. :P We like how they all have real cowboy names … Logan … Cody … Scooter … even a Tuff Hardman hee hee
Anyway…
So the entire rodeo consisted of a bunch of different events like roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, horse riding… They had very entertaining events for the kids, like having kids ride out on this baby animals and they would fall off within 3 feet of exiting the gate. My favorite was when they let 200 – 300 kids loose to catch the baby cattle. That was the only time during the night the animals actually looked scared.
Yeah, so I’m from the city and don’t really know anything about Rodeo, but at least it was a good time :-)

I noticed there weren’t any recent reviews of the Mesquite Rodeo — I think it may be because no one’s going any more.
I took some visitors from out of town there last weekend, and I was surprised by how thin the crowd was. But I also have an idea why — the prices! I hadn’t been to the rodeo in a few years, and since then, the ticket price has literally doubled, from $ 12 to $ 24.
It’s just not worth $ 24, I’m sorry. When it was priced at about the cost of a movie (with a drink), it was absolutely a viable weekend option. But $ 24 puts it out of reach for a lot of people, clearly. Also, the season used to run from April to October — now it’s just June, July and August. Maybe that’s why they’re trying to make up some bucks?
The show itself was fine — but not spectacular. Opening fireworks were sketchy and unnecessary. The pacing seemed off; there were a lot more empty pauses than I remembered. I didn’t care for the current rodeo clown or his patter; his lame, sexist jokes made me squirm in my seat a bit, having brought out-​of-​towners. The announcer was a bit irritating, trying to get us to stay for the 8-​second club after the show. No thanks.
The rodeo participants themselves, though, were fun to watch and clearly trying their best. Can’t fault them. And all the little kids around me seemed to be enjoying themselves (hope the kids’ tickets were reasonably priced!). So, if you’re have an out-​of-​town guest, this may still be worth going to see. Just be prepared to spend some bucks.

Resistol Arena is a good place to test how well a ‘city slicker’ or spoiled suburbanite can handle all the the sights (there were a lotta flies on that one cow) and smells the rodeo has to offer. Don’t miss it if you have the opportunity to go and get some of the Sonny Bryan’s buffet while you’re there too. In no particular order:
Cowboy poker — Let’s just say you got to have your nuts screwed on tight to just sit and wait while a pissed off bull is on a collision course with you and your table. Somehow it was mostly intact after it was all done, still tryin to figure that one out
Cowgirl Barrel Racing — The horse enters the arena at full speed and the cowgirl positions, balances, and/​or contorts herself in the most dangerous and difficult way possible. This got HUGE cheers all around on my last visit.
The Calf Scramble — Kids gathered from everywhere start running around after a calf in an odd game of capture the flag. The picture I attached doesn’t quite capture the excitement. Of course this comes right after the mutton riding, a bunch of 4 and 5 year old cowboy mini-me’s in football helmets holding on to a sheep for dear life.
Of course none of the bull riding, bronc riding, roping, etc are to be outdone by the other events — live entertainment in one of the best forms, someone putting their own butt on the line. Thankfully no one was hurt when I was there, but there was a close call that made my hair stand up — after the bull bucked the rider, he kicked once more and one of his rear hooves came down an inch from the guy’s head. +1 for the rodeo clown’s distraction.
Speaking of which, it’s good to have some comic relief but I’m still wondering exactly how they did this skit: The rodeo clown comes out with (supposedly) a box filled with bottles of beer. He trips, falls forward on the box, and proceeds to drink what’s leaking out of the bottom corner. Then he puts the box down to open it — no bottles, no beer, but there is a dog inside …
Yup, good times all around.

So you thought Mesquite was just a boring suburb of Dallas, hm?
Just a poor little special needs kid that wants to be a cool guy?
Well guess what… Mesquite may be kind of lame… but we do have the title of «Rodeo Capital of the World!»
Ok…so you googled it and we’re really not the Rodeo Capital of the World. However! Mesquite IS (seriously this time) the «Rodeo Capital of Texas.»
…And we have a pretty darn fun Rodeo. Throw on your cowboy boots and hat and take your gal out on a Friday night for a good time. Professional cowboys and girls show off their skills every Friday and Saturday during rodeo season (whenever that is) — doing tricks and catching sad little baby cows with ropes… then clowns come out and do silly things with big angry cows… then kids run around trying to catch a pig… Come to think of it… this is a lot of animal abuse… hmmm.
ANYWAY! It’s still entertaining! And cheap!
The stadium seating is that of a high school football field– your ass rests uncomfortably against a metal bench for 2 or 3 hours, but that’s my only complaint.
Oh! I also went here for an intimate night with ThreeDogNight! The acoustics were pretty good and the arena is small enough to make it a cozy setting for a music event. Very strange though– Seeing 3DN in Mesquite… ohh times they are a changin’…

Confession time: I love the rodeo.
This is big for me because for the majority of my life I would not get near one without the persuasion of a cattle prod. Although I admired the bravado of the cowboy athletes who competed, my perception of the sport was generally negative. I considered liking rodeo to be reactionary, provincial, even pedestrian and that Luke Perry movie didn’t help. A native Texan, I liked things Western, but it had to be the cool, non-​tacky Western — custom leather boots, Willie, Luckenbach, Shiner Bock, «High Plains Drifter» and the Old 97s. To a globetrotting, Gen-​X, urban Samurai, rodeo fandom was beneath my contempt.
But age is the great clarifier and this prejudice only inhibited me from experience. Realizing that rodeo is actually about as cool-​Western as it gets, I recently slid on my Luccheses and headed east to the Mesquite Championship Rodeo.
It was a blast and my 6-​year-​old, who actually spends much of his summer at our family ranch, was enthralled. I can list all of its merits, but here are the top three reasons to go rodeo:
1. It is the multicultural melting pot of DFW:
«Nay,» you say? The night I attended the audience demographic was noticeably diverse with people across the entire socioeconomic, ethnic and cultural spectrum, as well as world-​class cowboys from around the globe. Mid-​rodeo, an announcement was made thanking the Egyptian consulate staffers who were in attendance and there were even a handful of gay caballeros sitting behind us. (I cannot confirm 100% their sexual orientation, but with the tight T-​shirts, lavender satin western cravats, suffocatingly skinny boot cuts and Village People mustaches, I am going out on the presumptive limb.) Not the crowd I expected which, of course, made it all the more interesting and enjoyable.
The only glitch in the demonstration of diversity and globalism occurred during the spotlight introduction of the non-​US cowboys who were competing — specifically a Canadian, a Brazilian and an Australian. First their names were called out followed by their city, state and country of origin. For the Brazilian and Canadian the emcee completed the intros unscathed, but when he got to the Aussie from Golbourn there was a hiccup.
He announced the cowboy’s name then «Golbourn, North-​Southwest, Australia. North-​Southwest, Australia? Where’s that?»
Then, amused with his wit, he continued, «How do you know when you’re there? I bet that guy doesn’t know if he’s coming or going, ha, ha, ha etc, etc, etc.»
This lasted for about a minute with a lot of raised eyebrows and shrugged shoulders circulating Resistol Arena. No one knew what he was blathering about, especially the Aussie cowpoke. Then I looked at my program and got it. It read «Golbourn, NSW, Australia.» NSW — the Australian state of New South Wales. A few minutes later, he got it too and mumbled a correction. Awesome!
2. Mutton Bustin’:
In short, you take a 3 – 8 year old, dress him/​her in a Kevlar vest and helmet with a face mask, and set them onto the bare back of a woolly sheep. The shoot opens and the sheep bolts (to accompanying banjo music) with the youngster holding on for dear life. The kid that remains on for the longest time wins. Yes, it is as funny to see as it sounds.
3. The Bulls:
1.5 ton spinning, jumping and bucking juggernauts of destruction whose sole purpose is to break the body of the fools who have the temerity to try and ride them for eight seconds. On my visit only two out of ten cowboys made it and one was trampled on severely. It really is quite an accomplishment and an impressive display of athleticism and cajones. Now my friends at PETA might find this treatment of the bulls to be exploitative, but I personally feel that there is more honor living a life in the ring and the stud farm than the pen, chute and slaughterhouse. But, hey, I am also a fan of bullfighting too. So what do I know?
There is also roping, barrel racing, bronco busting, and enough hokey Americana earnestness and cornpone pageantry to keep Borat Sagdiyev busy for at least another movie. Plus, the people working there are terrific — from ticket takers to vendors to ushers — all are incredibly friendly and helpful.
Prices run from $ 11 for the cheap seats to $ 2000 for the luxury boxes. My recommendation is the $ 38 club seats on the end of the arena where they release the bulls. These put you right in front of the action and come with an all you can eat Sonny Bryan’s buffet including beer and wine until 9pm. Admittedly, the food is not up to par with other SBs, but you get your chopped beef (beer and wine too) and you get to see rodeo clowns. So, it works.
The rodeo is open every Friday and Saturday June through August. Doors open at 6pm and the rodeo starts at 7pm.
Look for my son in the next heat mutton bustin’ heat.

Pretty good rodeo, for this area. Really good place for kids, lot’s of events like pony riding, bull photo shoot etc. If you kid has been naughty, put him/​her on a sheep and watch the sheep take off, your kid hit the ground and burst in tears! Kind of weird event but I guess it’s a memory they will cherish forever!
Bull riding is my favorite event which there were plenty both in the beginning and the end. Chuck wagon racing or what they called it was a pretty fun and different event. Been to a couple of other rodeo’s both in Texas and Colorado and I hadn’t seen anything like that before.
They had one really fun event the time we went, «Whiplash», the world’s smallest cowboy monkey! That was a must-​see event, I hadn’t seen it on TV before, either way it’s more fun to see it live.
The only bummer is that if you want to take good pictures, you gotta make sure you sit on the front row or perhaps really high up if you have a great lens.
Really good place to take out-of-towner’s to if you want to show them something really texan. I’ve taken other out-​of-​towners to the Colliseum in Fort Worth but it’s not near as good and their program never seems to change.

The Mesquite Championship Rodeo takes place at the Resistol Arena on Friday and Saturday nights during April through September. Every seat inside the Arena has a good view of the rodeo action. Get here early if you’re hungry and dig into the «all you can eat» BBQ Buffet offered by Sonny Bryan’s inside the arena. There are also concession stands and a western gift shop which sells souvenirs, clothing, and cowboy hats.
The Rodeo lasts about two hours and has contests such as bull & bareback riding, team roping, chuck wagon races, tie-​down roping, steer wrestling, kids mutton bustin’, cowboy poker, calf scramble, and cowgirl barrel races. During intermission, the «Cowboy Zamboni» tractor drives around to rake, water, and level out the dirt. The Rodeo Clown (Kenny Petet) cracks me up! The Mesquite Rodeo is a fun night for the whole family!