The Kansas State Rodeo took place Friday through Sunday, Feb. 16-18, marking the final time Weber Hall hosts the rodeo.

“There’s parts of us that are sad to lose the history, but we’re sure excited for a great new facility that’ll be able to add some different and better things,” rodeo team head coach Casy Winn said.

Winn said the new arena, located off Denison by the Stanley Stout Center, will seat 3,500 people, the same as Weber Arena. While the new arena is under construction, the coming rodeo in September will be held in CiCo Park at the county fairgrounds.

“We’re hoping to carry over the atmosphere and still bring in a lot of people and still get a bunch of students up there to watch it,” Winn said.

Rodeo attendee Jenna Hastert said she hopes the new arena will have a larger space and more comfortable seating.

“I also don’t know if the new arena is going to be attached to classroom settings, but it would be interesting to see if it’s just going to be the arena alone and not have to go through like the whole building of classrooms and different things,” Hastert, senior in communication studies, said.

Rodeo team President Haley Vollmer said the new arena’s location will be more convenient for contestants.

“All the livestock and the horses, and where the contestants stay, is already at the Stanley Stout Center,” Vollmer said. “So having the same building as where everybody’s already at will be super convenient.”

Additionally, Vollmer said the new arena’s construction will give the rodeo team more time to organize and prepare for the rodeo.

“We only have from November to [the spring] to prepare for the rodeo in Weber,” Vollmer said. “Now we have the whole year to prepare, so instead of focusing so much on getting everything ready just to even have a rodeo, we can focus on how to make the rodeo even better.”

Winn said he expects to kick off the new arena with a bang.

“I think we’re going to try and preserve a few pieces from Weber that we can have and maybe auction off or give away to some people,” Winn said. “The rodeo’s been around K-State for almost 80 years, so we’re gonna try and bring in a bunch of alumni and recognize a bunch of people like that as well.”

Vollmer looks forward to seeing K-State support the rodeo in the new arena.

“People who follow K-State closely, I think they’re going to really want to come and see the new building and see how it all works,” Vollmier said. “I think that will attract a lot of popularity just because it’s new and exciting and really good for the school in itself.”

Hastert said she hopes the new arena shows off K-State team members.

“I would love to see more K-State athletes compete,” Hastert said. “I feel like there was lots of surrounding colleges and that’s great, but it would be really cool to see a lot more K-State competitors representing our school.”

The first rodeo in the new arena will be in Spring 2026.