The new format will showcase the top 20 bull riders in the elite Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) presented by Wrangler World Standings and a teammate of their choice from all eligible PBR card holders. Each team member will ride two bulls at each nationally televised event, with the highest score on four bulls determining the winning team. In these winner-take-all events, each team will compete to take home individual event purses and all teams will be competing for points to qualify for the 2008 PBR Team Shootout final event.
Each team will compete at two PBR events from those listed below (ten teams at each event), with the top ten teams from the first four events competing at the 2008 PBR Team Shootout Finals in Pueblo, CO, which will be aired Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 3 p.m. ET. The team that wins the season title will take home the entire championship purse.
“The PBR is proud to work with ESPN to showcase the “Toughest Sport on Dirt” to a new audience of dedicated sports fans,” stated Randy Bernard, PBR CEO. “The events we’ve selected have a strong fan base that is knowledgeable about the PBR, and we are confident they will enjoy this new competition format.”
PBR Team Shootout Telecast Schedule:
DATE | EVENT | LOCATION | TIME (ET) | NETWORK |
August 10, 2008 | Del Mar PBR Team Shootout | Del Mar Fairgrounds – Del Mar, CA | 4 p.m. | ESPN2 |
August 17, 2008 | CA Mid-State Fair PBR Team Shootout | CA Mid-State Fair - Paso Robles, CA | 5 p.m. | ESPN2 |
August 23, 2008 | Molalla PBR Team Shootout | Molalla Buckaroo Grounds – Molalla, OR | 3 p.m. | ESPN2 |
September 7, 2008 | Guthrie PBR Team Shootout | Lazy E Arena – Guthrie, OK | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN2 |
September 14, 2008 | Pueblo PBR Team Shootout | CO State Fairgrounds – Pueblo, CO | 3 p.m. | ESPN |
The top twenty bull riders in BFTS World Standings as of June 23rd, 2008 will be team captains. A random drawing will be held on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 9 p.m. ET to determine the order in which riders will draft their teammates and the teammate draft selection will be held the following Tuesday, July 8th at 9pm ET. Both will be broadcast live on PBR’s free online webcast, PBR Primetime, by logging onto www.pbrnow.com.
For more information about ticket information or the TV schedule, please go to www.pbrnow.com.
ESPN, Inc., The Worldwide Leader in Sports, is the leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring the broadest portfolio of multimedia sports assets with over 50 business entities. Sports media assets include ESPN on ABC, six domestic cable television networks (ESPN, launched in 1979; ESPN2; ESPN Classic; ESPNEWS; ESPN Deportes; ESPNU), ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD and ESPNEWS HD (high-definition simulcast services of ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS, respectively), ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International (34 international networks and syndication), ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN PPV, ESPN Zones (sports-themed restaurants), and other growing new businesses including ESPN360.com (Broadband), ESPN Mobile Properties (wireless), ESPN On Demand and ESPN Interactive. Based in Bristol, Ct., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.
About PBR:
More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on FOX, NBC, VERSUS and on a host of foreign networks across the globe. With approximately 400 hours of prime time programming annually PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over one and one half million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the marquee Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, the Copenhagen Bull Riding Challenger Tour, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour, and the Discovery Tour, designed specifically for entry level contestants. The PBR's governing board of directors is comprised of renowned bull riders who have developed the event into a stand alone sport which is experiencing unprecedented growth in global popularity. The PBR is headquartered in Pueblo, Colo., and has over 1,200 PBR bull riders compete in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico.
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