Eighteen-year-old sports league Professional Bull Riders announced that it will surpass the $100 million-mark in prize money awarded at the Jack Daniel’s Invitational on Saturday and Sunday in Nashville, Tenn.
“This is a major milestone for the PBR,” said PBR Senior Vice President of Competition Jay Daugherty. “We take pride in presenting the world’s best bull riding competition and creating the largest earning potential for bull riders.”
The PBR was nominated as 2010 Sports League of the Year at the Sports Business Journal Sports Business Awards alongside the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.
Before the PBR was formed in 1992, top-ranked bull riders might have earned $100,000 in a season, with no rider reaching $1 million during their entire career, including eight-time world champion Donnie Gay. The PBR has already had 20 riders earn over $1 million, and another five are less than $100,000 from the mark. The PBR has had 20 or more riders earn over $100,000 each of the last five years and the PBR World Finals has the largest single payout of any bull riding event on the planet.
“We have made tremendous strides in 18 years and are excited and proud of this achievement,” said PBR founder Ty Murray, who earned more than $1 million in the first 10 years of the organization. “The PBR has incredible potential and we will continue to grow as more people are introduced to it.”
The Nashville stop will be the 23rd of 30 events on the 2010 Built Ford Tough Series, which features the Top 40 bull riders in the world matched against the fiercest bucking bulls. The event is being held at Bridgestone Arena, and tickets can be purchased at www.Ticketmaster.com or by telephone at (800) 732-1727.
The PBR is having one of the deepest races in history with 16 different winners in the first 22 events. Eleven riders ranked in the Top 20 have won an event and the lead has changed nine times with six different riders at the top.
| Top PBR Money Winners/Million Dollar Milestones |
|---|
| Most Money Earned, Career: | Justin McBride, $5,124,418 |
| Most Money Earned, Season: | Justin McBride, $1,835,321 |
| First Rider to $1 million: | Chris Shivers, 2001 |
| First Rider to $2 million: | Chris Shivers, 2003 |
| First Rider to $3 million: | Chris Shivers, 2006 |
| First Rider to $4 million: | Justin McBride, 2007 |
| First Rider to $5 million: | Justin McBride, 2008 |
| 2009 | vs. | 1995 |
|---|
| Kody Lostroh ($1,628,442) | PBR World Champion | Tuff Hedeman ($123,595) |
| J.B. Mauney ($348,000) | PBR World Finals Event Winner | Troy Dunn ($56,975) |
| J.B. Mauney ($266,516) | Touring Pro Division Champion | Tuff Hedeman ($46,709) |
| Cody Nance ($156,021) | PBR Rookie of the Year | J.W. Hart ($65,507) |
| 21 Riders | Riders earning $100,000 or More | 1 Rider |
For more information on the Professional Bull Riders, please visit www.pbr.com or contact Jack Carnefix at (719) 242-2800 or jcarnefix@pbr.com or Sara Broun at (719) 242-2800 or sbroun@pbr.com.
About the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR)
The PBR was founded in 1992 by 20 marquee bull riders whose goal was to make bull riding, the most popular and dangerous part of traditional rodeo, into a stand-alone sport, with prize money commensurate with the risks. Each of the founders invested $1,000 to start the PBR, an investment which turned into millions in 2007 when Spire Capital Partners acquired the interests of the founding riders and invested in the growth of the sport. More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on VERSUS, NBC, CBS and on television networks around the world. With approximately 400 hours of primetime programming annually, the PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air. The PBR attracts nearly 2 million live event attendees each year to its marquee Built Ford Tough Series and the PBR Touring Pro Division. More than 1,200 PBR bull riders compete every year in approximately 300 PBR-sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico.
For more on the PBR, please visit www.pbr.com, www.teampbr.com, www.pbr.tv, www.myspace.com/teampbr, http://twitter.com/teampbr, or www.pbr.com/worldfinals.
