Professional Bull Riders: America’s fast-growing extreme sport

When 20 cowboys invested $1,000 (£780) each in a new venture in 1992, few expected it to go on to become one of America’s fastest-growing sports.

Focusing on rodeo’s most popular element, the founders of Professional Bull Riders (PBR) hoped to establish it as a stand-alone attraction with its own fan base. A quarter of a century later, the project has grown into a multimillion dollar organisation.

Indeed, sports marketing expert Joe Favorito says PBR has kicked off an “American renaissance”, while Forbes journalist Mike Ozanian called it “America’s fastest-growing sport” back in 2013.

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Today, with millions of fans, a legion of high-profile riders, and major plans for expansion, PBR is ready to begin its next chapter.

PBR chief executive Sean Gleason explains: “PBR is a unique blend of turbocharged sports and entertainment - an extreme sport within a big, loud rock show. If we can keep improving our thrilling on-the-dirt product, the sport has more room to expand.”

The organisation says that its growth strategy and international expansion will come from competition and athlete development, social and digital media, and its new RidePass - a digital streaming “over-the-top” subscription network launched this year.

PBR has clearly come a long way since its founders held their fist meeting at a motel in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1992.

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What is PBR?

In 2007, the 20 PBR founders sold a majority stake in the company to Spire Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum. The private equity firm then sold its stake in 2015 to Endeavor (formerly WME/IMG) for a reported $100m (£78m).

More than 1,200 cowboys from the across the globe now hold PBR memberships and compete in more than 300 events that take place annually in the US, Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico.

These include PBR’s “Unleash the Beast” series, which culminated with the world finals week in Las Vegas in early November.

Next year’s calendar will kick off on 4 January 2019, with a three-day event at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

What are the rules?

Described as “the toughest sport on dirt”, cowboys ride on the back of a bucking bull and qualify for a score if they stay on for more than eight seconds. The rider must hold the bull rope in one hand, with their other hand in the air, in order to score. Riders who are bucked off before eight seconds score zero points.

Who are the star riders and icons?

Kaique Pacheco: the Brazilian rider became the 2018 PBR World Champion earlier this month, despite having a serious knee injury.

Guilherme Marchi: also Brazilian, the rider was the 2008 PBR World Champion and was the first to complete more than 600 qualified rides. In April last year, the US edition of Men’s Fitness magazine named him as “the world’s fittest athlete”.

J.B. Mauney: the two-time PBR World Champion was the first Western bull rider to make more than $7m (£5.5m) in career earnings.

Bonner Bolton: a rising PBR star until his career was ended by a near-fatal bull-riding injury, Bolton went on compete on popular TV show Dancing with the Stars last year, in which he finished fifth, and is the face of a Tom Ford cologne campaign.

About the bulls

Bred to buck, the bulls are stars in their own right. Weighing in at an average 816kg (128.5st), they are giants compared to the riders, who weigh an average 70kg (11st).

Legendary bull Bushwacker recorded 42 consecutive buck-offs until J.B. Mauney successfully broke the run in 2014.

This year’s world champion bull title went to SweetPro’s Bruiser. The star bovine won his third world championship at the World Finals and joins Little Yellow Jacket and Bushwacker as the only three-time champions in PBR history.

How many people watch PBR?

Broadcast live on the CBS network in the US, PBR averages more than one million viewers for each event. The tour operates in five countries and is screened in more than 130 territories. According to a an ESPN Sports poll, PBR now has a fan base of more than 82 million.

Will PBR events come to the UK?

The PBR tour has yet to reach the UK or the rest of Europe. However, that may be set to change in the near future, according to PBR chief Gleason. “We believe the sport can flourish in other places,” he said. “We hope to eventually bring live PBR events to the UK, although no timetable has been set. We’ve been exploring options that hinge largely around our ability to bring bucking bulls into the country.”

PBR in numbers

• 1992: the year PBR was founded by 20 cowboys
• 8: number of seconds required for a qualified ride
• 0: the score riders get if they are bucked off before eight seconds
• 42: consecutive buck-offs by Bushwacker until J.B. Mauney successfully rode the legendary bull
• 600+: qualified rides by Guilherme Marchi, the most in PBR history
• 1,200: riders who hold PBR membership
• $7m: career earnings for two-time PBR World Champion J.B. Mauney
• $1m: bonus awarded to the winner of the PBR World Championship
• $180m: prize money paid to bull riders since PBR’s founding
• 300: annual events held globally

Images: Bull Stock Media