PUEBLO, Colo. -- In just two weeks the world’s Top 35 bull riders and “rankest†bucking bulls in the business will descend on UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center for the richest bull riding event on the planet, the $2.2 million PBR 2014 Built Ford Tough World Finals. The sport will be celebrating its 21st birthday in Las Vegas as it crowns the best bull rider of the year and fiercest bucking bull in the sport.  It’s the last event of the season and the most lucrative, offering $250,000 to the PBR World Finals event winner, and $1 million to the 2014 season’s PBR World Champion.

For five consecutive nights, fans can enjoy the adrenaline-pumping, edge of your seat thrills of the toughest 8 seconds in sports. Thirty-five men have competed all season in hopes of qualifying for the season finale where they will also compete alongside the top bull rider from each of the PBR’s international circuits - PBR Australia, PBR Brazil, PBR Canada, and PBR Mexico. 

Each qualifier will ride one bull per night during Rounds 1-5 from Wednesday through Sunday. The scores from the five rounds will then be combined and the riders with the Top 15 scores will advance to the Built Ford Tough Championship Round, following the completion of Round 5 on Sunday, Oct. 26. The rider with the highest total score for the six rounds will earn the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals event title and a $250,000 check.

The PBR World Champion will be the rider who has accumulated the most PBR world points during the 2014 regular season and the World Finals. There are a potential 5,500 points available at the World Finals, so any of the Top 10 ranked riders heading into Las Vegas has the opportunity to win the overall title, the $1 million, the World Champion’s $10,000 belt buckle and a Ford Truck, courtesy of series’ title sponsor Ford Trucks.

At present five Americans and five Brazilians are ranked in the Top 10 and have a great chance at becoming the 2014 World Champion:

1.   Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, SP Brazil)
2.   Silvano Alves (Pilar do Sul, Brazil)
3.   Fabiano Vieira (Perola, Brazil)
4.   Guilherme Marchi (Leme, Brazil)
5.   Mike Lee (Decatur, Texas)
6.   Matt Triplett (Columbia Falls, Montana)
7.   Gage Gay (Staley, North Carolina)
8.   Cody Nance (Paris, Tennessee)
9.   L. J. Jenkins (Porum, Oklahoma)
10. Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Goias Brazil)

Alves will be seeking his third title after winning the event in 2011 and 2012; Marchi and Lee are looking for their second championship having claimed the title in 2008 and 2004, respectively. Gay is also leading the Rookie of the Year race and has the opportunity to win both titles.

The World Finals will also be the last appearance for the greatest bucking bull in PBR history, Bushwacker. Bushwacker will be competing for his third World Championship Bull title with his final out taking place on Sunday, Oct. 26.  After six years of record-breaking, history-making competition, Bushwacker will retire from the sport following the World Finals to his home in Oakdale, California.

PBR World Finals week in Las Vegas also includes the exciting Tyson Fan Zone and Marketplace, a 15-acre showcase of PBR partner and vendor wares for the more than 70,000 fans who visit Las Vegas for the week’s festivities. The fan zone will be located at the MGM Resorts Village across the Strip from the Luxor and is open daily at 10 a.m. starting Wednesday, Oct 22.

Entertaining after-parties at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino and PBR Rock Bar on the Strip each night follow the competition where the bull riders and fans can mix and mingle while celebrating the “toughest sport on dirt.â€

The action starts at 6 p.m. PT each evening, Wednesday, Oct. 22 through Saturday, Oct. 25 and at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26.  It will air live on CBS Sports Network at 9 p.m. ET, Wednesday – Saturday and at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday. 

Ticket prices for the World Finals start at $25. They can be purchased at UNLVTickets.com or by calling 702 739 FANS (3267).  

The PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals is an experience fans will never forget.  It’s the best bulls and the best bull riders, vying for the most prestigious bull riding title in the world - period.  

For more information, please visit www.worldfinals.pbr.com.