The Top 40 bull riders in the world head to Charlottesville, Va. on Friday, Sept. 24, and Saturday, Sept. 25 for the Charlottesville Invitational brought to you locally by Troy-Bilt. The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) will invade the John Paul Jones Arena for the third-to-last event before the 2010 Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas. Tickets are on sale now, starting at $10, and can be purchased online at www.JonesArena.com, at the John Paul Jones Arena box office, or by telephone at 888-JPJ-TIXS (888-575-8497).

The Charlottesville Invitational brought to you locally by Troy-Bilt will feature PBR favorites such as current top-ranked rider Austin Meier, North Carolina native J.B. Mauney, Brazilian superstar Renato Nunes and Oklahoman Ryan McConnel. Also expected to compete are current No. 10 in the Built Ford Tough Series standings McKennon Wimberly, fan favorite Skeeter Kingsolver, and veteran rider Dustin Elliott.

Bull riding begins at 8 p.m. on Friday and 7:50 p.m. on Saturday and will consist of three rounds of competition. The scores from Rounds 1 and 2 are combined, with the Top 15 riders advancing to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round after intermission on Saturday. The rider with the highest total score on three bulls will be declared the winner. Charlottesville is also stop No. 3 of the Final Five Showdown – a bonus round after Round 1, giving the Top 10 riders in the world standings the opportunity to compete for double BFTS points.

The 2010 PBR season has been the sport’s most competitive season ever. The first 27 events of the 2010 BFTS have produced 19 different winners; the standings lead has changed 11 times; and six different riders have been ranked first. In addition, there are seven riders in the Top 10 with an event win and 13 in the Top 20.

Meier has the most wins with five, while Nunes of Buritama, Brazil, has three, and de Oliveira of Aparecida de Goiania, Brazil, rookie Silvano Alves of Pilar, Brazil, and Mauney each have two wins. Meier and Mauney have each been ranked first three different times while Nunes has been on top twice.

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About the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR)
The PBR is the world’s premier bull riding organization. More than 100 million viewers annually watch over 400 hours of primetime PBR programming on VERSUS, NBC, CBS and networks around the world. The PBR has awarded over $100 million in prize money, and 20 riders have earned over $1 million, including Justin McBride with $5.5 million – the most of any western-sports athlete in history. 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. Nearly 2 million fans attend Built Ford Tough Series and Touring Pro Division events each year. For more information on the PBR, go to www.pbr.com, or follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamPBR and http://twitter.com/TEAMPBR.