LAS VEGAS -- Starting Thursday and running through Dec. 9, rodeo will dominate the entertainment and sports scene here.

The 48th Wrangler National Finals Rodeo will be contested at the Thomas & Mack Center, with championships to be decided in seven major competitions -- bull riding, bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping and barrel racing.

The first go-around at the 22nd consecutive NFR to be held in Las Vegas begins at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, with the top 15 in each event to compete.

Want a ticket? Good luck. Sellouts are the rule at the 17,000-seat T&M. Last year, 175,513 attended the 10 sessions, with the record 176,575 established in 2004.

The prize pool, which has grown steadily ever since the NFR moved to Las Vegas, was a record $5.1 million in 2005.

The leaders include Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, who is No. 1 in the all-around standings with $266,096 in earnings.

The event front-runners are:

Matt Austin, Wills Point, Texas, bull riding, $155,132.

Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, bareback riding, $151,924;

Dean Gorusch, Gering, Neb., steer wrestling, $111,059;

Matt Sherwood (roping with Walt Woodard), team roping header, $93,075; Woodard, (roping with Matt Sherwood), team roping heeler, $96,669. Sherwood is from Queen Creek, Ariz.; Woodard is from Stockton, Calif.;

Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La., saddle bronc riding, $145,544;

Cody Ohl, Hico, Texas, tie-down roping, $165,460;

Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas, barrel racing, $129,392.

There are only three Nevadans among the 105 competitors. The team roping duo of Jay Adams and Randon Adams are from Logandale, near Overton, while Paul Jones, a bareback rider, is from Elko. The Adams have earned $56,128 each and are 10th; Jones has pocketed $74,903 and is 10th.

Money can be made in each go-around, so expect some fireworks in saddle bronc riding. Chad Ferley, from Oelrichs, S.D., has earned $145,013, so is only $531 behind DeMoss. At $126,132 is Dan Mortensen, Billings, Mont.

Luke Branquinho, a steer wrestler from Los Alamos, Calif., has competed at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned Fall Festival rodeo at McCullough Arena. He is fourth in steer wrestling, with $84,696. Shawn Greenfield of Lakeview, Ore., is second with $88,281 and third with $87,991 is Ronnie Fields of Oklahoma City.