It's official: No more Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton

It's official. After 44 years, the Canadian Finals Rodeo is done with its run in Edmonton.

The news was confirmed Monday by Jeff Robson, a representative of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association.

• Four cities hope to rope the Canadian Finals Rodeo starting next year
• Rodeo's future in Edmonton to be determined by weekend events

"We had lots of great discussions about it," Robson said, referring to negotiations with the Oilers Entertainment Group about hosting future editions of the CFR at Rogers Place.

But the two sides were not able to come to an agreement, he said.

With Edmonton out of the picture, Robson is providing little information on which city will host the CFR in November 2018.

"We're getting narrowed in on finding us a new home," said Robson.

The "finer details" are still being negotiated and an announcement should come "live and in colour" in the next few days, he said.

Previously, Robson said Red Deer and Saskatoon were both in contention.

The CFR was held at Northlands Coliseum for 44 years but had to find a new home after the City of Edmonton closed the venue for good in December 2017.

`Western lifestyle festival`

"We felt it was the right decision to not bid on CFR," said Tim Shipton, spokesperson for the Oilers Entertainment Group.

"We just felt that a deal was not there and we could not find the viable model to make it work." 

Instead, he said, the organization is moving forward with plans for a "western lifestyle festival" at Rogers Place.

"We'll be anchored to the things that we know best, that we're good at, which include hockey and live entertainment concerts," said Shipton.

A "deep-dive" analysis found there's a strong affinity in Edmonton to Farmfair International, and the festival will build on that, he said.

OEG hosted a professional bull riding event at Rogers last November for the first time. Shipton said they will continue with that event — but just not in November.

While there was "strong support" for the event, having it coincide with CFR in 2017 was too much of the same thing for Edmonton to handle, Shipton said.

"Conversations" are now underway regarding another bull riding event at Rogers Place, he added

While Shipton and Robson both said the CFR in Edmonton is done, neither would say that position is permanent.

"I would say [the door is] open," said Robson. 

Added Shipton, "Certainly we wouldn't close the door on any opportunity, but where we're at today ... best to pursue western lifestyle programming."