It’ll be a bigger crowd watching the 8 Seconds Rodeo in Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but it could be bigger and for two days and not one.

Except, founder Ivan McClellan likes it just the way it is. The crowd will be about 8,000 for 8 Seconds Rodeo, which celebrates Black rodeo culture and takes place 7 p.m. Sunday, June 15. It’ll likely be sold out for the third consecutive year, after being staged in 2023 at Expo Center and last year at VMC (7,200 fans).

“We opened more seats up, more $30 seats,” said McClellan, a Portland photographer who has documented Black rodeo for years, leading to an “Eight Seconds” book, photo exhibits, ad campaigns, the rodeo and more.

“We’ve got it pretty locked in for the past two years,” he added, explaining why the event hasn’t been expanded. “We’re just trying to perfect our model, make everything run smooth and the production as close to perfect as we can get it.”

Events have been limited to bareback, bull riding and barrel racing, as well as mutton busting — it has left steer wrestling and other events off the rodeo this year, mostly because of not enough parking for trailers.

There’ll be a DJ (DJ Mal-Ski), a comedian (X Mayo) and Self-Enhancement, Inc. dance team performing.

Interestingly, McClellan said about 60 percent of attendees come from the Portland area, and 40 percent from out of state — including from Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston.

About 80 percent of attendees have not been to a rodeo before.

“We are kind of a first experience for a lot of folks,” McClellan said.

8 Seconds Rodeo was started to help celebrate the Black rodeo culture, as well as commemorate Juneteenth, the day slavery ended in 1865.

“We have less contestants this year, but we’ve got better contestants,” McClellan said. “We’re getting the best in each event. It’s going to be a really tight, exciting competition. We’ve started to do training camps at Wasco, Oregon, we’ve done two of them for bull riders. It’ll be exciting to see them show off new skill set.”

Some competitors come from PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) and some from the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, the Black rodeo circuit.

Crown Royal and Northwest Ford Dealers have taken over as the bigger sponsors, along with Travel Oregon, Oregon Community Foundation and Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Tecovas, a top brand for cowboy boots and western-style apparel for which photographer McClellan has done marketing work in the past, has bowed out of the Portland event.

But, there’ll be a second 8 Seconds Rodeo being staged in Philadelphia, Oct. 11, and Tecovas will be involved.

As far as expanding the Portland event, McClellan added:

“I just don’t like that idea. It would feel less special and be logistically complicated. Everybody besides me wants it to be multiple days, and I’m not particularly interested in it, other than for the opportunity to make more money. You’re sort of diluting the specialness of the product.”

McClellan, 42, who’s married with three children, is originally from Kansas City, and moved to Portland in 2011. Although never a competitor himself, he started shooting photos at Black rodeos 10 years ago now, and has continued shooting — all with his trusty Fuji X-E1 camera and 32mm Zeiss lens.

With the connection to Juneteenth, McClellan calls 8 Seconds Rodeo “not a celebration, but a demonstration of freedom.”

Documenting Black rodeo means a lot to McClellan.

“There’s something special about shooting your own culture,” he said. “There’s just a viewpoint and closeness you can get when you’re working within the bounds of a culture you understand.”

More: 8secondsrodeo.com.