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Rodeo has started showing up in more baseball stadiums across the country.
From Arlington to Phoenix to San Diego, bucking chutes now sit where home runs are hit. The dirt may be different, but the crowds are the same. The fans come loud, packed and expecting a show.
Some cowboys are stepping into those ballparks for the first time, but some are familiar with that setting. Kade Sonnier is one of them.
Sonnier is a former collegiate baseball player turned two-time National Finals Rodeo bareback rider.
Long before he nodded his head inside the Thomas & Mack Arena, Sonnier was chasing innings instead of eight-second rides. He grew up playing baseball and spent three seasons at Nicholls State University, believing the game might carry him to the big leagues.
Tommy John surgery then changed that path for him. The elbow injury stalled his baseball career, forcing him to reconsider what came next. Rodeo had always been close to home. His father, Joey Sonnier, qualified for the 2018 National Finals Rodeo in saddle bronc riding.
Kade had watched the NFR from the stands that year and something about it sure excited him. He just hadn’t expected to chase that gold buckle himself.
In 2023, Sonnier made his Resistol Rookie debut season count. He qualified for his first NFR and finished third in the world standings. He returned to Las Vegas in 2025 and finished fourth in the world. Early this season, he sits inside the top 20, staying in the mix as another season begins to unfold.
The baseball background still shows. Bareback riding may only last eight seconds, but preparation mirrors a long season. Strength training, film study, recovery, repetition, timing. The same details that shape Division I baseball programs now define the greats of rodeo too.
That crossover was on display during this year’s Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo when Sonnier made a stop to visit Texas Christian University baseball. The Frogs welcomed him onto their field.
The Cowboy Channel shared a brief behind-the-scenes look at the visit, highlighting what felt like a full-circle moment. Different dirt, but the same fire in the cowboy.
More athletes from traditional team sports are beginning to see what rodeo competitors have long known. These cowboys are high-level athletes. The training is year-round, the travel schedule is relentless, and the pressure mirrors any postseason run.
Sonnier once believed baseball would be his way onto the biggest fields in the country. Instead, he found another route.
He has competed at The American Rodeo inside Globe Life Field, ridden at the Hondo Rodeo at Chase Field and climbed on at the San Diego Rodeo at Petco Park.The same kind of venues he once hoped to reach with a bat in his hands, he now enters with his hand in a riggin.
After his American Rodeo win in 2024, Sonnier talked about this connection and the meaning behind it on social media.
"As a kid, the only sports channels we had were ESPN and fox sports so in baseball season all we could watch faithfully were the Astros or the Rangers. I've been fortunate enough to compete in both organizations' facilities. To say this was a dream come true, is an understatement. When people talk about full circle moments, this is one of them. Since I was 8 years old I always thought I would play major league baseball and I would get to compete in stadiums like this, but I am so thankful that God had a different path for my life, and that he put this dream on my heart. As always, to Him goes the glory! !"
Kade continued, "Thank you to Teton Ridge and everyone that is involved in making this rodeo happen. It is revolutionizing our sport and we are grateful for that! God Bless y'all!"
Rodeo’s presence in those ballparks is growing. Major League stadiums are opening their doors to Western sports, drawing new fans and creating a stage that blends two worlds. Sold-out crowds and bright lights aren’t reserved for only baseball anymore.
Sonnier’s own family tree speaks to that crossover. His mom's cousin, Ron Guidry, pitched for the New York Yankees. The family competition runs deep, whether it’s on the mound or in the arena. Without a doubt, Kade got that athletic gene.
But Sonnier’s home run swings now come eight-seconds at a time. Baseball players talk about wanting the ball when the game is on the line. In rodeo, it’s the nod that matters, the gate cracks, the horse that bucks just right and the score that can define a season.
Every time the cowboys and cowgirls ride inside a major league stadium, it is reinforceing a larger shift in perception. Rodeo athletes are no longer fighting to be recognized as athletes. They’re proving it, one packed stadium at a time.