Celebration and change at the 60th shoot: Bruce Cull speaks

From a struggling tournament with a modest winner’s check to the undisputed "Super Bowl Of Archery," the Vegas Shoot has undergone a radical transformation over the last six decades. Now celebrating its 60th anniversary across the sprawling halls of the Paris and Horseshoe casinos, the event has evolved into a global phenomenon that draws thousands of competitors from over 70 countries.

"This year I'm happy to announce that everything's going out on our YouTube. And, you know, we'll get back to the people that want to watch it can watch it. It may be delayed a few minutes or whatever it is, but it's still as close to being right there watching everything as you can get. And there will be no cost to it."

Bruce Cull is both President of the NFAA Foundation, and the Executive Director of the NFAA, "but President of the Vegas Shoot is fine by me," he added with a smile.

"I remember in 1999 handing out the check, which was for $1,900 to the winner. And I think there was actually two people that had been in the shoot-off for that, or maybe three. And you look at today where we get 30, and of course they're

shooting for $50,000 plus a whole lot of contingency. The Vegas Shoot has evolved. I mean, it's been called the Super Bowl of Archery, the Proving Grounds, the Crown Jewel. And Vegas is what it is. I mean, it's a culmination of everything I think that we all like as archers," said Bruce.

The shoot has moved around many difference venues and casinos over its long history, and is in its second year working with the Caesar's Group, who own the Paris and Horseshoe casinos where the event is now held. "We [the NFAA] took over in 1999. So we've been almost half of that time with Vegas that it's been going And I've seen a lot. The quality of the archers is probably the biggest thing

that I've seen change."

"It [now] involves people from 60, 70 countries. There's first-time archers that come to Vegas. In fact, there's a big push on that this year. as we started a big program. Back in the late 90s, we had somewhere in the 700 range of archers. And that was a pretty big event then. And in today's world, I didn't set a goal that we want X number of archers. I've always just believed in whatever you do, do the best you can and give everybody a quality experience. And I think the rest is kind of history."

The Big Show: Changes

Many people keen to see the championship finals last year were frustrated with the pay-per-view experience, and Bruce was keen to point out that their concerns had been taken on board.  "This year I'm happy to announce that everything's going

out on our YouTube. And, you know, we'll get back to the people that want to watch it can watch it. It may be delayed a few minutes or whatever it is, but it's still as close to being right there watching everything as you can get. And there will be no cost to it."

There will also be an enhanced TV experience for Sunday's finals. "We have [great] production people... but we didn't have somebody that knows, look at all the lighting in here. Look at the sound system. Look at what we can do. And quickly... we found out we were lacking that. So I think this year we're going to try another step that's going to be a little bit better. There's an in-house show that's what's going on live, what you see there. And there's what we put out to the world. And they're not the same thing."

As well as this, there are some very special events planned for the Jubilee Theatre at the Horseshoe involving youth archers, as well as a huge party on Thursday evening in the Paris ballroom to celebrate the 60th anniversary.

The 60th edition of the Vegas Shoot represents more than just a milestone - it's a homecoming for the global archery community. While the venues and the prize purses have grown, the mission remains the same: providing a quality experience that keeps the 'Crown Jewel' of archery shining for the next sixty years.