Another Record-Setting Year for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo(TM)

HOUSTON, March 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 2008 Houston Livestock Show
and Rodeo celebrated another great year of agriculture, education,
entertainment and Western heritage.

The 76th annual Show featured several new attractions, including the Vintners
Corral wine garden, where visitors could taste award-winning wines from the
Show's International Wine Competition; the Sky Ride, which took carnival-goers
65 feet above Reliant Park; two new miniature cattle shows; and a public
speaking contest for students.

RODEOHOUSTON(TM) Super Series
-- The top 50 cowboys and cowgirls in each of seven events were invited to
participate in the second year of the RODEOHOUSTON Super Series, competing for
a share of more than $1.3 million in prize money, the richest purse in
regular-season PRCA rodeo. Each event champion walked away from Reliant
Stadium with at least $50,000, a RODEOHOUSTON trophy saddle and a champion
buckle.

-- RODEOHOUSTON Champions are:
- tie-down roping: Josh Peek - Pueblo, Colo., $58,250;
- bareback riding: Steven Dent - Mullen, Neb., $53,500;
- team roping: Chad Masters - Stephenville, Texas, and Jade Corkill -
Fallon, Nev., $66,150;
- saddle bronc riding: Billy Etbauer - Edmond, Okla., $55,000;
- steer wrestling: Wade Sumpter - Fowler, Colo., $54,000;
- barrel racing: Lindsay Sears - Ropesville, Texas, $61,500;
- bull riding: B.J. Schumacher - Hillsboro, Wis., $55,000.

-- The High Flyin' Award, a year's worth of Continental Airline travel,
presented to the contestant with the highest flights, hardest spills, roughest
crashes and toughest luck, went to Fred Boettcher from Rice Lake, Wis.

-- Xtreme Bulls returned to RODEOHOUSTON on March 18. Forty cowboys competed
for a total purse of $75,000. The 2008 winner was Mike Moore, from Kanakee,
Ill. He walked away with $29,642.

-- RODEOHOUSTON produced four live pay-per-view telecasts, including the Super
Series Championship on Saturday, March 22.

Attendance
-- The 2008 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo entertained 1,802,158 visitors
for general attendance (for all activities on the grounds). This is the third
highest general attendance in the Show's history. The general attendance
record was set in 2004 with a total of 1,890,174 visitors.

-- Rodeo paid attendance totaled 1,206,551 people enjoying action-packed rodeo
and superstars in concert. This is the second highest paid rodeo attendance in
the Show's history. The paid Rodeo attendance record was set in 2003 with a
total of 1,215,913 RODEOHOUSTON fans.

-- The RODEOHOUSTON performance on March 9, 2008, featuring rodeo action and a
concert by Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus, broke the Show's all-time Rodeo
attendance record with a paid attendance of 73,459. This broke the previous
record of 73,291, set in 2007 at RODEOHOUSTON with a performance by Miley
Cyrus as Hannah Montana/Cheetah Girls. Six 2008 RODEOHOUSTON performances
ended up in the top 20 all-time paid attendance records.

-- The RODEOHOUSTON performance on March 16, 2008, featuring rodeo action,
concerts by Duelo and Los Horoscopos de Durango, and the mariachi finals, set
the Show's all-time Rodeo attendance record for Go Tejano Day, with a paid
attendance of 71,165. This broke the previous record of 70,481, set in 2006 at
RODEOHOUSTON with performances by Ramon Ayala and Jay Perez.

-- A record 209,313 people visited the World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest
to help kick off the Show, topping last year's attendance record of 190,913.

-- More than 240,000 visitors rode the Rodeo Express shuttle buses from five
locations. The METRORail to Reliant Park was a popular mode of transportation,
as approximately 145,000 people caught a ride to the Show.

-- The Show hosted 2,078 international guests from 84 countries.

AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITS
-- This year's livestock competitions and horse shows boasted 30,258 entries.

-- Each of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo junior auctions brought in
$1.1 million or more. Six of the junior auction Grand Champion and Reserve
Grand Champion records were broken. The prices for the top winners were (*new
world's records):

*Grand Champion Work of Art, $185,000; and *Reserve Grand Champion Work of
Art, $150,000
*Grand Champion Barrow, $162,000; and *Reserve Grand Champion Barrow, $112,000
Grand Champion Pen of Broilers, $160,000; and Reserve Grand Champion Pen of
Broilers, $100,000
*Grand Champion Goat, $115,000; and Reserve Grand Champion Goat, $106,000
*Grand Champion Lamb, $185,000; and Reserve Grand Champion Lamb, $115,000
Grand Champion Steer, $300,000; and Reserve Grand Champion Steer, $180,000
Grand Champion Turkey, $130,000; and Reserve Grand Champion Turkey, $50,000

-- The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Champion Wine Auction brought in
$1,120,900, including a record $201,000 for the Grand Champion Best of Show
and a record $126,000 for the Reserve Grand Champion Best of Show.

-- Total auction sales (including Champion Wine Auction, Ranching and Wildlife
Auction and cattle sales) tallied $11,262,278. Of this amount, junior auction
sales totaled $8,297,750.

-- The junior auction totals* included: market steers ($2,521,300), lamb and
goat ($1,603,950), barrows ($1,325,250), poultry ($1,196,050), and school art
($1,651,200) (*unaudited preliminary totals that do not include cash
contributions and some purchase commitment amounts).

Heritage Partners for the 2008 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo were Reliant
Energy, Coca-Cola, Ford and Miller Lite.

For complete results and highlights, visit the Show's Web site at
www.rodeohouston.com.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable event
that benefits youth, supports education, and facilitates better agricultural
practices through exhibitions and presentation. Since the Show's beginning in
1932, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has contributed more than $220
million to scholarships, research, endowments, calf scramble participants,
junior show exhibitors, the Rodeo Institute for Teacher Excellence(TM), School
Art participants, and other educational and youth programs.

SOURCE Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

Sarah Poole of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, +1-832-667-1200