Calgary Stampede set to crack all-time attendance record

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As visitors flock onto Stampede Park on the show’s final Sunday, at some point the all-time attendance record will likely be smashed.

Stampede 2024 has welcomed visitors from across Alberta, Canada, North America and around the world once again, as 1,331,280 people have roamed the grounds as of Saturday.

Assuming more than 78,091 people enter the gates Sunday, the show will crack the all-time attendance record of 1,409,371 visitors set in 2012.

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At the very least the 2024 event will shoot above 2023’s 1,384,632 visitors.

“What an incredible turnout it’s been so far at the Calgary Stampede,” said Calgary Stampede President Will Osler at a Sunday morning event outside the organization’s new Sam Centre building.

“Our community has come out in force, and has embraced the community spirit and Western hospitality behind our annual celebration, both on and off park,” said Osler.

Stampede partner Tourism Calgary pins the 10-day celebration as having generated approximately $282 million in economic impact, said Osler.

The newly expanded BMO Centre became a fixture on the park this year, having been under construction for the past several years.

“There’s so much to take in and plenty of space to wander in and get out of the heat,” said Osler. “The expanded BMO, all the incredible programming and extra space have allowed us to achieve record-breaking attendance this year.”

Stampede CEO Joel Cowley said the $500-million expanded BMO Centre will have “huge dividends” for Calgary and Alberta in terms of economic impact, on top of those it has during Stampede.

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Stampede draws attention to guest experience, newcomers

The “phenomenal” turnout this year began on Friday, July, 5 when upwards of 350,000 spectators lined the streets of downtown Calgary for the Stampede parade, Osler said.

A record-breaking first Sunday saw more than 200,000 people come through the gates, the highest single-day attendance ever.

“While numbers and high attendance are great — and they really are — what’s more important is the experience our guests are having,” Osler said.

Cowley provided numbers from the Stampede’s mid-week survey, noting that results will change as it’s open until July 22.

“Early results of that survey indicate that 88 per cent of those who came on Stampede Park said that attending this year’s Stampede was an easy decision, which is fantastic,” Cowley said.

Ninety per cent also stated that the Calgary Stampede is an important part of Calgary’s identity.

Of the survey respondents so far, 26 per cent came from outside Calgary, being from within Canada and around the globe, he said.

Twenty-six per cent of attendees also said this was their first visit to the Stampede Park.

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“We love that, especially when we think of the number of newcomers who are coming to Calgary each year, that we can attract them and bring them here,” Cowley said.

“I think we could arguably say that this was ‘The Greatest’ of ‘The Greatest Outdoor Shows on Earth’,” said Cowley.

Potential challenges for Stampede 2025

The Calgary Stampede always has many moving parts, but next year’s event will have the added challenge of new event centre construction being well underway.

Cowley said the construction will take up two parking lots that the Stampede has utilized for quite some time.

“We will overcome those challenges and we will continue to provide a great experience,” he said.

He said it’s probably no surprise, but they’ll need to move to park-and-ride for the show’s many staff and volunteers.

“If we do it right, it may be better than parking on-site quite frankly,” he said.

They will work with partners such as the City of Calgary and Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation to “phase construction” so it has minimal disruption on the Stampede, Cowley said.

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“I think all our partners understand how incredibly important the Calgary Stampede is to the community both from a cultural standpoint, but also from an economic standpoint,” he said.

As part of the new event centre deal, the Saddledome will be torn down, and its area will become part of the Calgary Stampede’s footprint of programmable space.

“We’re really excited about that — to be able to add space,” Cowley said.

“In the fair and festival business, really attendance is self-limiting if you don’t have the space . . . because it really compromises the experience,” he said.

Extra space is “critical” for the Stampede, but in the near term Cowley said they have to get creative and more efficient at where they place things on the grounds.

High attendance ‘incredibly important’ for the show

It’s not yet clear how the budgeted $5-million loss for Stampede 2024 will be affected by high attendance, but Cowley said the attendance numbers are “incredibly important.”

“I don’t think there’s any secret that the pandemic was nearly devastating to the Calgary Stampede,” Cowley said.

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Pandemic-era deficits hit $26 million in 2020, when the 10-day rodeo was cancelled.

“During the pandemic people couldn’t gather. Our business model is predicated on people being able to gather, whether it’s during the 10-day festival or during the year for conventions and events,” he said.

During the pandemic, the Stampede organization laid off 80 per cent of its full-time staff.

With successful 2022 and 2023 shows, and a 2024 show shaping up to be “absolutely incredible,” the Stampede has been able to build back its full-time workforce, Cowley said.

“It has allowed us to address a lot of the capital needs that were really deferred during the pandemic, but those capital needs are still there,” he said.

“In addition to just repairing and maintaining things so that they’re safe and they work, we’d like to expand, we’d like to improve our premium spaces, we’d like to add more premium space, and so this is a multi-year recovery.”

— With files from Matt Scace

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