Rodeo Capital of Texas (Mesquite nickname)

Mesquite (near Dallas) has been home to Mesquite Championship Rodeo since 1958. In 1993, the Texas Legislature named Mesquite the “Rodeo Capital of Texas.” Mesquite Championship Rodeo calls rodeo “the original western sport” and MCR “north Texas’ premier western family attraction.”
   
   
Mesquite Championship Rodeo
The Mesquite Championship Rodeo ...
north Texas’ premier western family attraction

Our 49th season
Every Friday and Saturday night in 2006 (April 7th – September 30th) thousands of visitors will witness the thrills of the original western sport: the rodeo!

Mesquite Championship Rodeo is “family”.
Families dominate the attendance at the rodeo and we like that. We work hard to provide an exciting place where children and adults can be safe and still get close to the action: crazy clowns, brave cowboys, talented cowgirls, fast horses and big bulls. Many of our guests are coming to see their first professional rodeo so you may see people from many nationalities and countries.

Tickets are easily affordable for most
Tickets cost $7 - $30. All seats are reserved.
Group discounts are offered for groups of 20 or more.
The BBQ buffet is $7 for kids and $10.95 for adults.
 
Resistol Arena, the rodeo’s home since 1986
Only 15 minutes east of Dallas, Texas, Resistol Arena is located on I-635 just off the Military Parkway exit. The air conditioned arena is 200 yards south of the original rodeo facility which was opened in 1958. 
 
Wikipedia: Mesquite, Texas
Mesquite is a suburb of Dallas located in Dallas County and Kaufman County, Texas (USA). The city had a total population of 124,523 in the 2000 census which increased to 129,902 in the 2005 census estimate. Mesquite is home to the Mesquite Championship Rodeo and is known as the “Rodeo Capital of Texas.” The city is also home to computer video game producer id Software, creators of Doom and Quake. In 2001, the Mesquite Skeeters high school football team won the 5A Division I State Championship.
     
Wikipedia: Mesquite Championship Rodeo
The Mesquite Championship Rodeo is a rodeo located in Mesquite, Texas that operates during rodeo season (roughly April through September).

Founded in 1958 by Neal Gay as a permanent rodeo (as opposed to many other rodeos that would move from town to town), the rodeo struggled in the early years, but grew as the city of Mesquite grew. By 1970, Interstate 635 was constructed, allowing everybody in the Dallas area to be able to visit the rodeo easily.

By the mid 1980s, rodeo performances at the Mesquite Championship Rodeo began to be broadcast on ESPN and then later TNN and Fox Sports Net Southwest. On Fox Sports Net Southwest, the rodeo has reached over 8.3 million households, to date, the most televised rodeo in the world next to the NHSRA 20X Rodeo High telecast on RFD-TV. 
 
Official Capital Designations - Texas State Library
Rodeo Capital of Texas
Mesquite
House Concurrent Resolution No. 14, 73rd Legislature, Regular Session (1993)