National Finals Rodeo participants rehearse the grand entry Thursday for the rodeo, which begins tonight and runs through Dec. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center. Photo by John Locher.

ESPN's television cameras won't focus on Ted Groene during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo's 10-day run at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The 44-year-old cowboy's competitive days have passed. Now he labors outside the bright arena lights in a cold, pungent place where no champion's gold belt buckle shines.

But without workers such as Groene -- who is NFR's livestock superintendent -- Las Vegas couldn't benefit from this month's projected $43 million cash cow.

And Groene is proud to help make the rodeo a success, even if few outsiders appreciate the efforts of his 11-person crew.

"We're not here for the money," said Groene, a burly Californian who lost one eye to a bull years ago. "The money is nothing compared to what the competitors receive.

"But this job is all about the chance to be around rodeo."

Groene's behind-the-scenes saga isn't unique.

Since professional rodeo's biggest event came here in 1985, innumerable Southern Nevada residents and businesses, as well as visitors with links to the rodeo, have quietly cashed in on the collective presence of so many cowboys, urban or otherwise.

Last year, NFR events sold a record 176,575 tickets and attracted 37,375 out-of-towners during an otherwise slow stretch of early December.

Those guests spent $39.3 million on nongaming goods and services, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Ticket sales this year should come close to those of 2004, but trends suggest NFR will draw 40,000 visitors and approximately $43 million in nongaming spending from today's opening round through Dec. 11's championships.

Some of that money benefit local workers like Barbara Hanabergh and Michael "Cajun" Theriot, who eagerly anticipate NFR's annual return.

Hanabergh has worked 18 years at two Boyd Gaming Corp. properties that cater heavily to the rodeo crowd: Sam's Town and the Stardust. Tips from visiting cowboys and cowgirls double what casino workers would otherwise earn this time of year, she said.

"In the rodeo's initial years, we'd have to take three or four days off a week because business was slow. Now, no one gets any extra days off during NFR," said Hanabergh, a table games dealer at the Stardust for the past 12 years.

"The rodeo crowd gives everyone a Christmas," she added.

Theriot, a local bartender for 30 years, said the same rodeo fans often belly up to his counter year after year.

"We've become like family," Theriot said.

Rodeo fans typically buy a few drinks before the events, but business is best after 10 p.m. when fans return from the Thomas & Mack.

"Their money trickles down to us on the front line; plus they're good people who like to blow off a little smoke. It's a fun time," Theriot said.

Groene gets no tips, and the bulls aren't good for lively late-night conversations. Still, his livestock job commands between $530 to $ 670 per day over the 30 days it takes to set up, operate and tear down NFR's corral, a rodeo spokeswoman said.

That's hardly chicken feed, but it's also well below the nearly $118,000 won last year by NFR's saddle bronc champion, Oklahoman Billy Etbauer. Despite toiling in obscurity, Groene said the animals are his connection to the action taking place before fans.

"It makes you feel like part of your job may have had something to do with how they performed in the arena," he said.

Supporting events as complex as NFR can also take its toll. It's been three months since Groene visited his home in Brentwood, Calif., and life in a hotel has become all too familiar, he said.

After working rodeo events elsewhere, he and his crew arrived in Las Vegas in mid-November to begin building a massive temporary livestock pen in the Thomas & Mack parking lot.

As is the case each year, animals arrived beginning Thanksgiving Day; all livestock must be delivered before midnight of the Saturday after the holiday, Groene said, so his team can start to fit them with identification tags the following morning.

"We need time to make sure every one gets here healthy, has time to adjust to the weather," said Groene, who's worked NFR since 1995.

In the days leading up to the competition, the livestock crew feeds -- and sometimes cleans up after -- approximately 100 bulls, 200 horses, 75 calves and 120 steers used at varying points in the rodeo.

Animals are routinely shifted around the pen for exercise and to improve their accessibility come competition day.

"If you don't get them up and moving, they'll get lazy, particularly the bulls," Groene said.

Those vagabond days could be numbered. Groene's family is moving to Pahrump, and he'll soon commute to Boyd Gaming's South Coast, where he'll be operations manager of the $600 million resort's new equestrian center.

"Being on the road wears on you," Groene said. "The contestants get to go home, but the crew, we just go from event to event."