On July 4, 1882, at North Platte, Nebraska, several hundred spectators and over a thousand cowboys attended the "Cowboy Fun" portion of "The Old Glory Blowout," which included bucking broncs, steer riding and roping, and riding a bull buffalo as the ultimate event, with cash prizes awarded to the winners of each event. The demonstration was so well received that William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody made it a regular act called "Cowboy Fun" in the Wild West Exhibition and glamorized the range or working cowboy with colorful advertising posters announcing future performances. With blaring band music and the roar of enthusiastic spectators behind them, cowboys appeared with the Wild West Exhibition before millions of spectators in 1182 cities, many of them several times, throughout the 48 states, Canada, and parts of Europe. Some 30 years of these tours prepared audiences for the rodeos that followed. Today these professionally performing cowboys are known as rodeo cowboys, and they formed the Professional Rodeo Cowboy's Association, better known as PRCA. Each year some 600 sanctioned PRCA rodeos are held in the United States and Canada with hundreds of contestants. Spectator rodeo began in North Platte on July 4, 1882.