Calgary Stampede rodeo champions have won their respective events in one of the largest rodeos in the world; the rodeo is the heart of the Calgary Stampede. With a prize of $50,000 to the winner of each major discipline, it offers one of the richest payouts in rodeo competition. In Canada, the Calgary Stampede rodeo is broadcast nationally by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on its main network, as well as on Sportsnet One. In the United States, the rodeo is televised live on The Cowboy Channel and live-streamed on the subscription-based The Cowboy Channel Plus application.
There are six major professional events – bull riding, ladies' barrel racing, steer wrestling, tie down roping, saddle bronc riding and bareback riding – and four novice events – junior steer riding, novice bareback, novice saddle bronc and wild pony racing. Each professional event is organized as its own tournament, and the cowboys and cowgirls are divided into two pools with 10 contestants per event. The first pool competes the first four days, then the second pool competes the following four days. The top four in each pool (four fastest combined times in tie-down roping, steer wrestling and barrel racing, and four highest combined scores in bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding) advance to Championship Sunday. The remaining contestants then compete on Wild Card Saturday, where the top two in each event also advance to Championship Sunday. All contestants that made it to the final day then compete, and the top four in each event then advance to the showdown round, where all previous results are wiped clean. The contestant with the fastest time or highest score in each event wins the trophy bronze and accompanying $50,000. Team roping was added in 2022. However, unlike the other rodeo events, it is limited to one day and the competition is called the Rocky Mountain Cup. It takes place at the Nutrien Western Event Centre and there are 30 teams at the event who compete in the first two rounds. The eight fastest teams then return for the semifinals, and the top four then advance to the clean-slate showdown round where the fastest team wins the trophy bronze and $12,500 per member. Ladies' breakaway roping was added to the Rocky Mountain Cup in 2023. Just like in team roping, 30 ropers compete in the first two rounds, followed by the eight fastest ropers in the semifinals, then the top four compete in the clean-slate showdown round where the fastest breakaway roper wins the trophy bronze and $12,500.
All livestock for the rodeo events come from the Stampede Ranch located near the town of Hanna. The ranch was created in 1961 as a means of improving the quality of bucking horses and bulls and to guarantee supply. The first of its kind in North America, the Stampede Ranch operates a breeding program that produces some of the top rodeo stock in the world and supplies rodeos throughout southern Alberta, and as far south as Las Vegas, Nevada, for the National Finals Rodeo.