PUEBLO, Colo. – The countdown to the 2023 PBR World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, is officially on. As of Feb. 1, there are just 100 days remaining until the world’s best bull riders take over Dickies Arena for seven days of action on May 12-14 and 18-21.

All season long, the PBR is celebrating its 30^th anniversary. That celebration will continue in Fort Worth, as some of the PBR’s founders will gather for a 30th-anniversary parade, the Dirty Thirty Celebration and other festivities.

While we can’t wait to hear what the founders have to say this year, we’re reliving the first time a majority of them got together to reminisce on all they accomplished since meeting in that Scottsdale motel room all those years ago.

RELATED: Taking a chance

For those unfamiliar with the story, in April of 1992, 20 bull riders met in Scottsdale, Arizona, each investing $1,000 to form what has become the world’s premier bull riding organization.

Historically speaking, bull riders were initially thought of as unskilled cowboys. When rodeo was first getting started, bull riders were cowboys who didn’t possess the skills to rope and handle a horse. It wasn’t until riders such as Jim Shoulders (1950s) and then Larry Mahan (1960s-70s) drew attention to the sport that eventually led to the golden age of the 1980s when the 20 founders were all in their prime.

Bull riders went from being “unskilled” to headlining rodeos and eventually forming their own sport, which sells out arenas such as Madison Square Garden and can be seen on network television.

RELATED: It all started in a motel room

In 2011, 12 out of 20 founders – Cody Lambert, Ty Murray, Bobby Delvecchio, David Fournier, Michael Gaffney, Cody Custer, Ted Nuce, Daryl Mills, Scott Mendes, Clint Branger, Aaron Semas and Jerome Davis – gathered in Las Vegas to discuss the organization, what made them break off to start it and why it’s been so successful.

Today, PBR.com’s From the Vault series looks back at that gathering.

Founding Fathers

The three keys to bull riding, according to Ty Murray, are never to get scared, stay tough, and never quit trying.

The key to the PBR’s success, Murray said, is they never stopped trying.

Late Tuesday afternoon, 12 of the 20 founders of the PBR spoke in a forum setting at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, and the consensus was that in the 20 years since they met in a Scottsdale, Ariz., motel room to form the organization, they never quit.

They had a dream, and it wasn’t simply about making life better for themselves. The intent was to make it better for the next generation of professional bull riders.

“We really looked to the future,” said Bobby Delvecchio, who said he remains the biggest fan of his fellow founders. The Bronx-born Delvecchio acknowledged the leadership skills of Cody Lambert, Murray, and longtime CEO Randy Bernard.

‘We really looked to the future.’

For the first time in a public setting, the founders gathered to talk about what led to the formation of the PBR and their eventual decision to, as host Justin McKee said, “stand up and say, ‘This is bull(crap).’”

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