Five years ago, the Cowboy Channel televised its first rodeo, the Cheyenne Frontier Days. From then on, that rodeo became near and dear to Patrick Gottsch and now it lives on through his daughter, Raquel Gottsch Koehler.
In 2019, Patrick called Tom Hirsig, the CEO of the Cheyenne Frontier Days, and expressed his desire to showcase rodeo through a western sports network. Hirsig believed in Patrick and decided to take a chance and be the first rodeo to be televised.
“I remember Tom Hersig, CEO at the time as well, he really embraced that idea. He was like ‘Oh, let it be us. We want to be the first ones’ and here we are, building on that relationship these five ears later and it just gets stronger and better. And then, we get to see the rodeo grow, I think because of it,” Justin McKee said.
While Gottsch was a fan of any and every rodeo, McKee says that there was always a twinkle in Patrick’s eye when he was sitting on the deck looking over the arena of the Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Patrick truly loved everything about the Cheyenne Frontier Days, from serving as the Grand Marshall of the Grand Parade, to the pancakes, to the Indian Village and everything in between.
“You know, it is a beautiful thing to see. It is everything that he thought would happen, that dad believed in, it did, it came true. So, he did, he loved being here, loved being the Grand Marshall of the parade,” Koehler said.
“He wore that ribbon so proudly. It always hung very prominently in his closet and he would even put it on from time to time.”
Patrick not only left his mark on the Cheyenne Frontier Days, but also on countless other rodeos that have grown since the televising of the sport.
“The impact is unbelievable, the legacy he has left. And I want to say this, in the sport of rodeo there are legends, and he is a legend,” McKee said. “Most legends it takes a lifetime to get that label, that title. It took him just a few months,”