RAPID CITY - A new saddle bronc rodeo, season passes for 10 rodeo performances, an expanded buffalo sale, a Western art show and a cattle embryo sale will be among new features at the 2008 Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo.

The new features are among changes made under two new five-year contracts signed Tuesday by the three major entities that put on the huge winter show. The main run of the 2008 show starts Friday, Jan. 25, and goes through Sunday, Feb. 3.

The Rushmore Plaza Civic Center on Tuesday signed separate five-year contracts with Sutton Rodeos and Central States Fair, Inc. The old contract expired just after the 2007 stock show ended in February. Sutton Rodeos of Onida produces the professional rodeo events during the stock show, and Central States Fair produces the trade show, the cattle shows, the horse sales, and nonprofessional rodeo events such as the North American Sheepdog Trials and the Ranch Rodeo.

Sutton Rodeos is launching the season passes this year (see related story). It also is adding the Saddle Bronc Classic on the first Saturday of the stock show, Jan. 26, and a new Super Elite Bucking Bull Sale at 11 a.m. that day.

The five-year contracts are a first, according to civic center general manager Brian Maliske. During the 1990s, the entities operated under one-year contracts. The last two contracts have been for three years each.

Maliske said he is happy that the contracts are now set because the stock show is the biggest single event at the civic center and in Rapid City. "This event makes or breaks our whole year. Because of that, we spent a lot of time and detail on it," Maliske said about the contract. "We all understand that for any one of the three partners to be successful, all three must succeed."

Maliske said the stock show brings a quarter-million people through the civic center. "There's no single event that has a similar impact on Rapid City."

Ron Jeffries, general manager of the Central States Fair, said the new contract will ensure stability for the next five years.

The buffalo show and sale, hosted by the Dakota Territory Buffalo Association, will be moved to the second weekend of the stock show and will be held at the Pennington County Event Center rather than the civic center. Judging will be Friday, Feb. 1, the buffalo show will be Saturday, Feb. 2, and the sale will be Sunday morning, Feb. 3. The show and sale are held in conjunction with Dakota Territory Buffalo Association's annual convention.

Tentative plans call for a Western art center during the stock show, to be located in the theater lobby, Jeffries said. Artwork by well-known regional artists as well as items to be auctioned during the Western Art Auction will be on display.

A new event for cattlemen, the Cattle Genetics Sale, will be held Monday evening, Jan. 28, following the Angus show and sale. The event will begin with a social at 5 p.m., followed by the embryo sale at 7:30 p.m. at Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn, according to Kadee Hande, livestock coordinator for the stock show. "It's another way we can thank our buyers for the last 50 years," Hande said.

The stock show will mark its 50th year in 2008.

Maliske said the financial terms of the stock show contracts are similar to those of past years.

Sutton Rodeos pays a minimum rent of $57,000 or 10 percent of ticket sales, whichever is higher. Typically, Maliske said, Sutton Rodeos pays about double the $57,000 base rent.

Central States Fair Inc. typically pays fairly close to its minimum rent for civic center space - about $66,000 this year - because it has only one ticketed event, the Ranch Rodeo, that regularly meets the 10-percent threshold.

The civic center also charges Sutton Rodeos and the fair organization for labor costs incurred in putting on the stock show events.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com