Kids, cattle, and curious crowds are gathering in Denver this month as the 119th National Western Stock Show says goodbye to historic buildings and looks forward to new facilities.
It’s a brisk, overcast Saturday in Denver — typical weather for the National Western Stock Show, aka “the best 16 days in January.” But, inside the historic Stadium Arena, the competition is just starting to heat up.
Wearing a black cowboy hat, a blazer, jeans, and boots, livestock judge Travis Lautner strides onto the sandy arena floor. Soon, a half-dozen children and teens follow suit — with their Miniature Hereford heifer calves in tow. They parade their petite cattle in front of Lautner, then patiently await his judgment.
“The young man in the cowboy hat brings us one that’s really long-spined,” Lautner says into the microphone. “She’s really long, from hooks to pins. She’s a female that’s angular about her hip shape, and she’s a female that does have some flexibility off of both ends. She just lacks maybe the stoutness and power and muscle down low as we compare her to the cattle above. But that’s a good starting grounds for that young man. You go ahead and make some changes to that one, you got yourself a cow.”
Built in 1909, the Stadium Arena has been a mainstay of the National Western Stock Show for more than a century. Hundreds of Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion animals have been crowned inside this enclosed amphitheater, during what’s been dubbed the “Super Bowl of Livestock Shows.”
But 2025 marks the last year the National Western Stock Show’s livestock shows will be held in the Stadium Arena. Starting in January 2026, they’ll take place in a brand-new facility, the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center, which is under construction nearby. The Stadium Arena will live on — it was designated a local historic landmark in 2016 — but it will likely be repurposed as a public food market.
“It’s very historic and very nostalgic,” says Paul Andrews, president and chief executive officer of the National Western Stock Show. “We have some families that have been exhibiting there for darn near every year from 1909 forward. It’s going to be pretty emotional to say goodbye to the Stadium Arena, especially for those exhibitors whose grandfather showed in there, their father showed in there, they showed in there, and their kids are showing in there. You’re talking about 100-plus years of history in that building. It’s a special place.”
The retirement of the Stadium Arena for livestock shows is one of several bittersweet changes coming to the National Western Stock Show, which is in the middle of a major redevelopment and expansion project. When the new National Western Center is complete, it will feature 2.2 million square feet of indoor and outdoor spaces that can host events year-round. “We envision a place where, it doesn’t matter where in the world you are or what time of year it is, if you want to come and experience Western heritage and experience a celebration of the West, it’s Denver, Colorado, at the National Western Center,” Andrews says.
The project is a collaboration between the National Western Stock Show, the City and County of Denver, and Colorado State University (CSU). In addition to the new Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center, crews are hard at work building the Legacy Building, which will serve as the world headquarters for the National Western Stock Show. Planning is also underway for a new multiuse Equestrian Center, which will include a hotel and parking structure, to be completed by 2028.
Several new facilities have already opened their doors. The HW Hutchison Family Stockyards Event Center and the Cille and Ron Williams Yards opened at the 2022 stock show. And the CSU Spur — a free, hands-on educational campus focused on water, health, food, and agriculture — opened in phases in 2022 and 2023.
When all is said and done, the completed National Western Center will include a mix of new and newly reimagined historic buildings, including the beloved Stadium Arena. The expanded campus is being designed to host not only the National Western Stock Show in January, but also other livestock and equestrian shows throughout the year, as well as festivals, concerts, farmers markets, art exhibitions, cultural gatherings, and more.
“Certainly, the new center will give us a chance to host more agriculturally related events than we’ve been able to generate in our worn-out facilities,” Andrews says. “With the newer facilities, we’ll be competitive across the world of equestrian, which we’re really not today. The Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center will allow us the opportunity to get some of the largest junior cattle shows in the country.”
Another big transition? The 2025 stock show is also Andrews’ last, after 15 years at the helm. He’ll stay on as a consultant until the Western Stock Show Association board hires a new leader. Though he’ll always cherish the memories he’s made at the National Western Stock Show, Andrews is looking forward to some well-deserved time off. He and his wife plan to travel and spend time with their grandchildren. “It’s the right time,” he says. “I just thought, Let’s put a new president in for the grand opening of these buildings in 2026, which will also be the 120th year of the stock show. It’s important that we have a good, strong leader who’s ready to take this thing in the future.”
One of Andrews’ proudest accomplishments has been the success of the National Western Stock Show’s scholarship program during his tenure. Every year, the stock show awards 120 scholarships totaling more than $550,000 to students studying agriculture, rural medicine, and veterinary sciences. “I’m confident the scholarship program is going to keep growing over the coming years with the new facilities and the growth of the stock show,” he says.
Here are some other “goodbyes” happening at this year’s National Western Stock Show, which is running now through January 26:
- The 2025 show will be the last time the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale is held on the 3rd floor of the Expo Hall. In 2026, the exhibit will move into the new Legacy Building. “We’re celebrating the last 30-plus years by honoring past featured artists at this year’s show,” Andrews says.
- This year marks the last time members of the National Western Club will have a chance to eat in the current private lunch lounge, which opened in 1972 in the northwest corner of the Expo Hall. Their new eatery, which will be located in the Legacy Building, will have seating for roughly 600 guests, up from the current capacity of 250. “This year, we will toast to the final days of the National Western Club in its current facility,” says Andrews.
- This is the last time livestock will spend the stock show in the lower level of the Expo Hall. In 2026, they will be moving to the new Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center. The lower level, meanwhile, will become “the largest kids and family area that we’ve ever had,” Andrews says. “Those barns will be transformed into quite possibly the largest petting zoo in America.”
Find out more about the National Western Stock Show here.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of National Western Stock Show