I know its early but we are thinking about going to watch The American next year. For those that have been, is it worth it? Where do you recommend sitting in the stadium? Where did you stay? Just trying to get the details together to figure out how much its going to cost.

I like sitting on the side of the stadium where the boxes/gate is.  Around Section 142.  All the contestants warm up on that side.  We sat on the front row a couple of years ago and my son loved it because he could see all his favorites walking right in front of him.  Trevor tied his head horse to the fence right in front of us.  Tickets went on sale last week (and I forgot)  so all those front seats are sold out already.

I've only been once, so can only speak for my experience this year. Not gonna lie, I was a little bored and was surprised how many empty seats there were. The lack of attendance could very well have been due to the weather, it was in the 30's and low 40's with rain and a north wind, so very miserable. They decided to split the rodeo into two days this year, so that could have also had something to do with it.

All that being said, it was definitely cool getting to see so many stars of the rodeo world in one place. I'm not a hard-core rodeo fan though, so if I didn't live 30 minutes away, I wouldn't go again.

This is a brand spanking new hotel that is right next to the stadium, and if the weather is nice, you COULD walk there. Still a little hike, but then you don't have to pay for parking, lol. https://www.loewshotels.com/live-by-loews-arlington-texas

We went the second year it was held and enjoyed it very much.  Would definitely go again. We had Luca with us so we had to stay in a pet friendly place; it wasn't close to AT&T so can't help there!  We went to the bull riding the first night and rodeo second day.   It was during an ice storm; that's the only part that left a little to be desired!

We went last year. I could list at least a dozen rodeos that are more entertaining from a spectator's perspective. We were disappointed and won't go back. 

We’ve gone the last 2 years.

I preferred the single day format much more the first year we went.  It was long, but Flint Rasmussen clowned and kept the crowd lively.  Some empty seats, but it’s a huge stadium and I didn’t expect it to be packed.  

This year we went to the long round, the pace was slower and there was no clown that I recall so breaks got pretty boring.

We’ve also gone to the semi final rounds at Cowtown in the Stockyards - actually enjoyed this a lot more.  Smaller arena, lots of history, and lots of big names wandering around.  We got pictures this year of my niece with Joe Beaver, Jr Nogueira, and an NFR calf roper who’s name is escaping me - my husband was pointing guys out left and right.

We stayed the first year along 35 north of downtown in a more affordable hotel and uber’d almost everywhere when we wanted to drink.  This year we ponied up the extra money and stated at the Marriott in the Stockyards since that’s where we always wanted to go out.  It was worth it being able to walk to and from our hotel if we needed to run something back or just wanted to take a break.  We also got out of the city and explore the surrounding area.

i doubt we go this year, we talked about going down for a weekend just to vacation in the area.  We might go to the Timed Event Championships in Guthrie instead.

We've been the last 2 years and I will say we probably only go on Sunday. I prefered the 1 day format. Saturday seemed to drag on and on this year. We didnt even stay for the bull riding. Its a good rodeo and I think everyone should experience it once. We live just south of Dallas so we paid the $25 to park both days. My husband got out seats just up from the 2nd barrel. I dont remember the secton. I prefer to be up where I could see everything. I think we were on the 1st level the first day and 2nd level the second day. Seats were way better IMO up higher.