A concert will follow the event each night, with Cross Canadian Ragweed performing on the 21 ^st , followed by Jon Pardi scheduled for the 22 ^nd . Tickets are available for both nights.

While the stadium is known as the home of Colorado State's football team, it was built with these types of nights in mind, a facility which could stand as a centerpiece of the Choice City community.

"That's precisely what it is. We built that as a multi-purpose stadium, and it's a beautiful facility," CSU Director of Athletics said. "It sets up really well as an entertainment venue. When we looked at the size of the Colorado State and northern Colorado community, which is growing, it supports these types of events really well. When we look at the type of acts that are coming and we look at PBR, it also really aligns with us as an institution with our ag and large-animal vet science background. It's a nice pairing for us."

The university set its own five-year moratorium on hosting such events, a nod to the surrounding neighbors which expressed concerns as the stadium was being built. Once the period ended, it was a matter of finding the right act at the right time.

As the two-day event proceeds, , CSU's assistant athletic director of external affairs, will study every aspect, including the timing. She sees this one as perfect, but is wondering if there are other windows available, her personal belief being an event soon after commencement would also work.

"I think this was the perfect partnership. We found someone who will be a true partner, and it was the perfect timing of July, before fall (football) camp starts," Hannon said. "A lot of our other teams will be getting back to campus, so there will be some student activity. And it's country music and bull riding, it fits who we are as an ag school and where we started. The marrying of those four things were perfect. How could we not say yes to this?

"This will be a great event for us to do a case study on with an outside partner, learning how each other works. Usually, we're the rental company. They bring in their own needs and we say take over the building. This will be a test of being a true partner with somebody, and we'll see some financial gains we haven't seen in the past. And in college athletics, who isn't looking for ways to make money."

Canvas Stadium has already proven it can serve as a meeting place for the greater Fort Collins community. The facility has hosted more than 1,000 outside events apart from Colorado State athletic teams. City schools hold their proms there annually and corporations have used it for retreats. The Colorado Brewers Festival called it home one summer, while Drums Along the Rockies has moved its annual showcase to the stadium the past few years. Every summer, Canvas Stadium has opened the gates to host family movie night.

When it comes to athletics, seven home dates - including four sellouts for the Rams - were not the end of the action. It hosted the Canvas Community Classic for area high school teams, as well as playing host to the CHSAA Championship games.

"I think the excitement is there and has been there. We've proven we can put on big events successfully, such as Drums Along the Rockies and the high school football championships the past two years," Hannon said. "Seeing how successful and smooth those operations went, it made sense to take the next step event wise and bring in a big-time event.

"Since I've been here, we've intentionally kept our rates reasonable so our community will want to engage with us. We've intentionally made this a place where people want to be, want to gather. We want to make it easy for them when they get here, and we want it to be affordable. We want them to realize they don't have to go to Denver just to do something unique and fun. At Canvas Stadium, we can offer those opportunities as a campus. Everyone gets involved, from the President's office to the College of Ag. When we announced this, the coolest part was all of the different groups who reached out to help. That's a true testament of what Colorado State is."

Hannon said the university would like to explore a continued partnership with PBR as both she and Weber agreed this is not a one-and-done proposition. They are excited to explore the possibilities of what can come next.

Weber doesn't want to put too many restrictions on what the next event will be, though there are some time parameters naturally in place considering Canvas Stadium's primary function. He also noted there are some positives which could open up possibilities.

"What is relevant here is the bigger the act, the further in advance you have to book it. The challenge, if you look during football season, is we don't know our schedule until sometimes May or even August for game times," Weber said. "It really lends itself better to being a spring or summertime event, and the further we can get out in front of that the better off we're going to be to make sure we're on other's schedules relative to that. We're also fortunate where we are; the crossroads of I-70 and I-25 are major routes a lot of touring acts are going up and down. It is easy in some respects to add a tour date in Fort Collins.

"Multi-date or multi-acts over multiple dates, that would get me excited. The stadium is a nice size for some touring acts as well. I'm pretty bullish about what this can look like a year or two down the road. But this first one, it has me excited. This one came together rather quickly, and they've been great partners to work with. They think like us in terms of being aggressive and having a great event put together that should provide a wonderful experience for people who attend. It's unique, and that's where we want to be, on the cutting edge of doing these types of things and we want to be first."

The overriding feeling is Canvas Stadium will come out of the chutes strong for this debut ride.