Pro Bull Riding: Questions Answered

Pro Bull Riding is hands down, my favorite sport to watch. Bull riding began as a rodeo event that was, and still is, done at local and national rodeos all over the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. is headquartered in Pueblo Colorado and was created in 1992 when a group of twenty bull riders broke away from the traditional rodeos in search of a mainstream audience for the sport. Bull riding was the most popular sport at rodeos and these men felt that the sport deserved to be in the limelight and would have no problem standing alone. They were right.

Today, more than 1,200 bull riders from the U.S. , Brazil, Canada, and Mexico hold PBR memberships. They compete in more than 300 bull riding events each year on either the Built Ford Tough Series, the Copenhagen Bull Riding Challenger Tour, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour, The Discovery Tour, or the PBR Internationalcircuits ( PBR Australia, PBR Brazil, PBR Canada,and PBR Mexico). The ultimate goal is to qualify for the PBR World Finals held in las Vegas Nevada, where the coveted title of PBR World Champion is decided. The annual prize money has skyrocketed to over $10 million dollars thanks to corporate sponsors like Ford, Wrangler, Jack Daniel's, Dickies, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Copenhagen Bull Riding, and the city of Las Vegas.

As for viewers? Well, they are not lacking either. PBR is broadcast on several major television networks in the United States. The sport was also aired in 84 countries and more than 500 million households! The 2008 season will have 34 live Built Ford Tough Series events broadcast nationwide. Raw sport and quality entertainment has brought in a growth of live audiences as well. In 2005 310,00 fans attended PBR events nationwide. That number has grown to over 1.5 million attendees each year! Nearly 90,000 people filled the stands of the recent PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.

So now you might be asking, "What sperates a good ride from a bad ride?" . Well, bull riding is scored by highly trained judges who look for three main aspects of a ride. They are looking at The bull's performance and the rider's performance seperatly for a total score of 100 points. The rider only gets a score if he stays on for the full 8 seconds, but the bull always gets a score. The highest scoring ride in 2008 was 95.75 by Renato Nunes VS Chicken On A Chain during the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Invitational. A few things the judges are looking for from the bulls; High Jumps, fast spin, did he stumble out of the gate? From the Riders, the judges are looking for; His posture, the position of his freehand, his dismount.

Bull riding has been sung about in songs by artists like Garth Brooks and Chris Leduex. It has been featured in movies like 8 Seconds. Look for it live on VERSUS, NBC, and FOX Sports. If you have never seen it, you are in for a wild ride. For more information, stats on the riders, and event info. check out www.pbrnow.com .