The method
How we check listings
Rodeo dates are scattered across county fair PDFs, organizer pages, and sanctioning-body calendars that routinely disagree. We do not average them. We record who told us what, and when we last read it.
Which source wins
Sources are ranked by authority, and a higher tier overrules a lower one rather than being blended with it:
- The organizer's or venue's own schedule
- Sanctioning-body calendars
- Regional and county fair listings
When two sources of the same tier disagree about a date, a venue, or a cancellation, nothing is published. The conflict goes to a review queue and a person checks the official page before the listing moves.
What each listing state means
| Confirmed | Matched against an authoritative source inside its freshness window. The date shown is the day we read it. |
|---|---|
| Confirmed by two sources | Independent sources agree on the core details, but neither is the organizer's own page. |
| Listed — not yet confirmed | We have the rodeo from a credible source but have not re-checked it against an authoritative one. |
| Last checked … | The record has fallen outside its freshness window. It is still shown, and it is shown as stale. |
| Canceled · Postponed | An authoritative source says so. The page stays live, with the original dates and the source that reported the change. |
| Ended … | The rodeo has finished. We keep it so next season's dates can be matched against it. |
How often we re-check
A check has a shelf life, and that shelf life shortens as the rodeo approaches. A confirmation that is fine three months out is stale the week of the event, and the listing changes to say so on its own.
| More than 90 days out | Re-checked monthly |
|---|---|
| 30 to 90 days out | Re-checked weekly |
| 7 to 30 days out | Re-checked every few days |
| Inside 7 days | Re-checked daily where the source permits it |
What we will not do
We do not copy descriptions or photographs from the sites we read. We do not write an article for each rodeo and present it as knowledge. There are no ratings, no attendance counts, no "only a few tickets left", and no verification badge without a verification record behind it.
The artwork on event pages is generated by us from the event's own name, place, and dates. It is decoration. It is never presented as a photograph of the rodeo, and it is never submitted as the event image in structured data.
When we get it wrong
We will. During the initial read-only release, public correction intake stays closed while source conflicts continue to enter a private review queue. We would rather open that workflow later than offer a form we cannot operate well.