The annual Stampede chuckwagon canvas auction is Calgary’s unofficial economic barometer and Albertans saw signs of optimism when the bidding started Thursday evening.
More than 190 organizations vied for the opportunity to advertise on one of the 36 wagons competing at this year’s GMC Rangeland Derby.
Calgary Stampede officials confirm more than $3.2 million was spent on Thursday with an average winning bid of $90,083. In 2017, the auction raised about $2.4 million and the average bid was just over $67,000.
Kurt Bensmiller received the top bid of the night as Versatile Energy Services spent $130,000 for the right to sponsor his tarp. The top bid last year was $110,000 for Kelly Sutherland's canvas.
The Stampede revamped the rules a few years ago to allow bidding partnerships, which has helped boost bidding totals, and a number of companies are expected to pool their resources to purchase a canvas.
Chuckwagon drivers receive 80 percent of the proceeds and most of the money goes to maintaining their teams.
“All of our money goes into these horses and looking after them and acquiring more horses and just everything that you can image to spend money to care for these guys,” said driver Jordie Fike. “You want to do the best you can for your advertiser, it’s their title on your tarp and you want to be as successful as you can and they support you and you want to do the best you can for them.”
“The money is essential to how they go down the road. It covers their operating expenses as well as looking after their animals 12 months a year,” said Kavanagh.
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