W hen the 2026 Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo returns on January 16, fans will step into a revitalized Will Rogers Coliseum. The first phase of an ambitious $50.5 million renovation of Will Rogers Memorial Center will be completed by the end of the year, marking the most significant upgrade in the building’s 90-year history.

FWSSR communications director Matt Brockman tells PaperCity Fort Worth that the improvements — from expanded concourses and better sightlines to modernized restrooms and updated HVAC systems — were long overdue, given the coliseum’s year-round schedule hosting Western equestrian competitions.

“It is going to bring an air of freshness and excitement in the coliseum’s concourse,” Brockman says. “The coliseum is arguably busier than at any time in its history. Just ha

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