Three years ago, the bookkeeping department at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association had to order red ink by the barrel.

For the second consecutive year, no red has been needed. The 8,000-member association will have made an $8.2 million financial turnaround by the end of the year, according to commissioner Troy Ellerman.

A few years of buying television time to help expand the popularity of rodeo was a gamble that almost left the PRCA high and dry. The exposure helped the sport grow, but concurrently nearly put the PRCA in bankruptcy.

Ellerman, who took over as commissioner two years ago, held his annual "State of the PRCA" media gathering Wednesday afternoon before the seventh performance of the National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center. His comments were backed up in a DVD -- provided to media and PRCA members -- that included all financial statements from the past two years and board meeting minutes.

You can surmise there will be a continued need for tankers of black ink at PRCA headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Late last year, the PRCA agreed to a contract extension with Las Vegas Events that will keep the NFR, the world's richest, in Las Vegas through 2014. Part of the deal called for the 10-day rodeo to begin on Thursday nights instead of the traditional Fridays, which helped Strip casinos and area hotels. The PRCA had its annual guarantee from LVE raised from $400,000 to $2 million annually, with LVE and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority each contributing half that figure.

Another big boost came from Jim Wilburn, chief executive of Winnercom, the television production company for the PRCA and the NFR.

When Ellerman took office, he said the PRCA owed Wilburn's company about $3 million in air-time purchases. Wilburn agreed to provide the PRCA with a no-interest loan so the debt could be paid off. The last payment has been made, Ellerman said

Ellerman has righted the ship and is guiding it in directions that seem to please most and upset few. His effort has been to balance the needs of the professionals -- estimated at about 500 rodeo athletes -- with improving rodeo opportunities for "weekend warriors," who account for about 90 percent of the membership.

He also said the urbanization of America is costing the country farmland and ranches, which traditionally have produced rodeo contestants. The next move, he said, is to use television and other programs to expand rodeo's reach into the inner city.

One direction the PRCA has taken is to convert its ProRodeo Tour into an elimination "playoff" system. At least 20 Tour events -- including April's Clark County Fair in Logandale and the Reno Rodeo in June -- will be part of qualifying for the playoff.

The top 35 in each rodeo category after the final qualifying event will be joined by the winners of each category of the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo to start the playoff.

From there, the field will be pared to 24 per category, then 12 and finally the eight who will compete in the PRCA regular-season finale.

Wilburn said the playoff will be featured in 14 consecutive shows on ESPN leading to next year's NFR.