No Tobacco at State Fair Rodeo

None by Julie Rose

(KCPW News) Pressure from anti-smoking advocates and a Kanab lawmaker have caused the Utah State Fair to drop a key sponsor of its 2006 rodeo. For years, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco has distributed fliers at the State Fair Rodeo and contributed several hundred dollars to the winner's purse. But Fair spokesperson Denise Stanger says no more:

"U.S. Smokeless maybe contributing on a national level to the PRCA, but there is no money from them for the purse this year."

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco is a sponsor of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, or PRCA, which supports the Utah State Fair Rodeo. Stanger says that endorsement brings top riders. This year, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco's presence will be limited to a banner in the rodeo arena and fair officials hope to make up the lost sponsorship money through concession sales.

Representative Mike Noel negotiated the agreement with Utah State Fair officials during a legislative hearing earlier this year.

"I think we've got a little conflict of interest where as a state we are receiving funds trying to educate people not to use it, and then as a state fair we allow a vendor to come promote their product," says Noel.

Ideally, Noel says tobacco companies would not be visible at the rodeo at all, but admits the PRCA endorsement is key to the rodeo's success.

While the Utah State Fair operates as a self-sustaining nonprofit, the fairpark is owned and maintained through state funding. The rodeo begins Thursday night.